Extreme heat warnings - tourists dead

Europe
Extreme heat is ravaging Europe

Matthias Kjellman

Updated 19.19 | Published 18.40

A heat wave sweeps across Europe.

Warnings about the extreme heat have been issued in several places.

- It is very important to cool down quickly in the heat so you don't get overheated, says doctor Hildegund Røer, to Dagbladet.

Authorities in the Canary Islands issued high temperature warnings last week.

It is expected to be abundantly warm again this week with temperatures reaching 40 degrees in some places in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia.

So far during the summer, several tourists in Greece, among other places, have disappeared while walking in the sun's rays. Many have fainted and then died of dehydration as a result of the extreme heat.

That's exactly what happened at the beginning of June when the British television profiler Michael Mosley disappeared on the Greek island of Symi after a hike. He was only found several days later dead, probably from heat stroke.

People cool off on a beach in Greece. Photo: Petros Giannakouris / AP

Stressful for the body

- High temperatures become an effort for the whole body, not least the circulatory system for the heart and the body's blood vessels. The body then tries to lower the heat by sweating and opening up vessels, says Petter Ljungman, docent at the Institute for Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, to TT.

This means that the heart has to beat both harder and faster, which results in an increased load on the heart. For example, if you have cardiovascular disease, it can also lead to epileptic seizures, unconsciousness or cardiac arrest.

Tourists in Italy try to hide from the sun. Photo: Luca Bruno / AP

The Norwegian doctor Hildegund Røer, who is based in Rome, wants to warn about the heat. She has worked as a doctor in Italy for over 20 years and has met many tourists during that time.

- Several of the tourists I have met are exhausted because they have been to so many museums and walked so much. They have to see so much in such a short time, but you never finish Rome because there is so much to see, she tells  Dagbladet.

She emphasizes the importance of drinking enough water, avoiding alcohol and staying in the shade as much as possible.

A soldier gets bathed in the face. Photo: Petros Giannakouris / AP

"Can be fatal"

Local residents and tourists who are in the heat can be severely affected by the heat.

Doctor Hildegund Røer advises people to stay indoors between 12.00 and 17.00 on the days when the heat is at its worst.

She believes that it is "terribly stupid" to walk around when it is such high temperatures as it is now.

- See a doctor when you feel unwell and preferably before you become very dizzy. It is also very important to cool down quickly in the heat so you don't overheat. If you get heatstroke, it can be fatal, says Hildegund Røer.

Woman under umbrella in Cyprus. Photo: Petros Karadjias / AP