Cyprus prepares for emergencies in face of approaching heat wave

Nicosia, July 14 A heat wave that engulfed most of Europe earlier this week has now reached Cyprus, with temperatures rising to 41 degrees Celsius in the capital Nicosia, the country's meteorology service said.

The meteorology service expects temperatures to climb to 43 degrees Celsius on Friday and stay over 25 degrees Celsius during the night, thus it has issued an amber alert for high temperatures which came to force at 9 pm on Thursday and will remain till 6 p.m. on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The government's Department of Labour also issued safety instructions for people working outdoors, advising those who do strenuous manual work to take a 30-minute break after 30 minutes of work.

People are also advised to wear appropriate headgear and light clothing, and to drink a lot of water.

Should either temperatures or humidity rise further over the next few days, working outdoors will be banned altogether during midday hours, the department said.

The city government of Nicosia has invited people who have no adequate air-conditioning at home to take refuge in the town hall during the hot daytime hours at a special air-conditioned center where cool water and light meals will be available.

The heat wave has been caused by hot air coming from the Sahara region, which affected most European countries.

Temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius were recorded from Spain to Poland in the north and Italy and Greece in the south.

Temperatures of up to 38 or 39 degrees Celsius are not uncommon in Cyprus during July and August, with occasional spikes surpassing this threshold for a few days.

However, the highest ever temperature of 46.2 degree Celsius was recorded in Nicosia on September 4, 2020.

Greece, Cyprus and Israel, which have a joint weather monitoring system, named the heat wave "Cleon".

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