Tourists cool off in a public fountain at the Sforzesco Castle, in Milan, Italy, on Saturday. Temperatures reached up to 42 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country, amid a heat wave that continues to grip southern Europe.
Luca Bruno/AP
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Luca Bruno/AP
Tourists cool off in a public fountain at the Sforzesco Castle, in Milan, Italy, on Saturday. Temperatures reached up to 42 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country, amid a heat wave that continues to grip southern Europe.
Luca Bruno/AP
ROME — Scorching temperatures across Europe forced the closure of the Acropolis in Athens for a second day as officials warned Saturday of even hotter weather next week, when the mercury is forecast to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in several popular Mediterranean tourist destinations.
In cities, those venturing out at all drenched themselves in fountains while others sought out pools, the sea or shade in hopes of relief from the heat wave caused by Cerberus. The high-pressure anticyclone coming from the south was named after the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld.
Fifteen cities in Italy, most of them in the country’s center and south, were under heat advisories signaling a high level of risk for older adults, the infirm, infants and other vulnerable people. Temperatures remained in the mid-30s C (mid-90s F) across much of the Italian peninsula Saturday but were expected to reach between 38 C (100.4 F) and 40…