Red alerts issued over heatwave in Italy and Balkans

Red alerts for extreme heat have been issued in Italy and the Balkans as a record-breaking heatwave continues to bake the European continent.

In Italy, 25 out of 27 cities, from Bolzano in the north to Palermo on the island of Sicily to the south, are under a red heat warning.

Croatia's weather service has issued a red alert for regions including the capital Zagreb and the popular tourist destinations of Dubrovnik and Split.

On Monday, dozens of firefighters assisted by four aircraft battled a wildfire in pine forests on the tourist island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea.

In neighbouring Serbia, the State Hydrometeorological Service (RHMZ) has warned temperatures would reach 39C on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Albania managed to contain a wildfire that consumed many hectares of bushes and olive trees near a village in the south over the weekend.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said he was keeping the country's health emergency response plan, ORSAN, at its highest level for the coming days in view of "a possible recurrence of a heatwave episode".

Scientists have said the heatwave, which started on 20 June, was the worst recorded in Europe, and the blistering conditions have disrupted power generation, ‌damaged infrastructure and overwhelmed healthcare systems.

Human-driven climate change, largely caused by burning fossil fuels, is making such extreme heatwaves more frequent and intense.

France has blamed the heatwave for 1,000 excess deaths. Its public health agency said most of those involved older people and warned the number was expected to rise.

The heatwave was driven by a "heat-dome" - an area of high pressure that sits over a region, trapping heat - settling over western Europe, with extreme conditions felt across the continent.

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Heatwave could return to UK over weekend

It comes as the UK is set to bake in warm temperatures once again this weekend, although the highs will be milder across the country.

Sky News meteorologist Dr Christopher England said: "Potentially turning quite hot again across the south-east this weekend, although details are uncertain at this stage, and it probably won't be anything like as hot as recently, with highs of around 30C more likely."

He noted that a heatwave next week, rather than over the weekend, is more likely, and conditions probably won't be as humid as last week.

Heat likely to build again next week

There was a warning that the heat was likely to build again from the start of next week in countries such as France and Germany, which were among the worst hit over the past few days.

Luca Mercalli, the president of Italy's Meteorological Society, said temperatures were set to soar again from Sunday.

"The areas affected look broadly the same as ⁠in the first wave, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and to some extent Britain," he said.

(c) Sky News 2026: Red alerts issued over heatwave in Italy and Balkans