Europe hit by African heat wave

Europe is experiencing extreme weather these days, with waves of African heat and floods. The extreme heat has caused fires in southern countries of the continent such as Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Portugal or southern France, while drought has brought water supply problems to many areas.

Tourists on Croatia's beaches stand under umbrellas, and occasionally they dive into the sea to cool off. With temperatures of up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit [40 ° C] in shadow, many eyes avoid the sea from midday until late afternoon.

It's hot at noon. We stay out of the sea. We need to take care of ourselves.

We sleep in the afternoon. We swim early in the morning and in the evening, from 0600 to 0800,” says a tourist.

After heat waves from North Africa, emergency services have warned the elderly and people with chronic heart disease not to leave home at peak times.

The last month's fire in the coastal city of Split destroyed thousands of hectares of forest, agricultural land and at least 15 homes. Many coastal cities were hit by storms, and waves reached unusual heights.

The situation seems calmer in the north of the continent. In the Czech capital, Prague, locals and tourists try to cool off, sailing boats on the Vltava River. The Czech Meteorological Institute warned that the heat wave could continue until the end of the week.

The Geneva - based World Meteorology Organization says that extreme weather, such as this summer, is unusual.

The “finds few similar cases in the past 150 years, but the last three decades, we've seen more and more extreme climate situations like this time of this year”.

The organisation says temperatures will continue to rise unless activities that contribute to global warming are limited. It calls for people to take measures to protect themselves against extreme weather conditions, creating warning systems, shelters, and fast intervention teams.

The Vienna Zoo has already taken steps to make the summer heat more affordable for animals. The elephant pool was built in time for the summer.