Storm Warnings Across Southern Europe From Italy to Serbia

Thunderstorm alerts are in place for a swath of Europe from the south of France to the Balkans.

There are orange warnings for Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany and Umbria in Italy, as the summer heat gives way to violent storms. Serbia faces similar alerts, while the French Riviera is under a yellow storm warning.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves, triggering extreme weather events from violent storms to wildfires. As the Mediterranean Sea warms — reaching a record average temperature this month — it’s turbo-charging storms across the region.

In Greece, Athens and the surrounding Attica region still face a high risk of wildfires, along with northeast Peloponnese, the island of Evia, the Cycladic islands, including Mykonos and Santorini, and the Sporadic islands. Firefighters, supported by planes and helicopters, are tackling a blaze near the village of Kalyvia Soxas in southern Peloponnese.

While it’s been the worst wildfire season in two decades in terms of outbreaks, there has been just one major blaze — on the outskirts of the capital two weeks ago — after the deployment of drones and cameras accelerated response times.

There were 52 wildfires in the 24 hours to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, but the risk is expected to ease on Tuesday as wind speeds drop.

There’s also a yellow warning for heavy rain across southern Scotland on Tuesday, although southern parts of the country will warm up over the coming days. London is forecast to climb to 28C (82F) on Wednesday, according to the Met Office.

Top photo: Lightning striking over Nice, France, on Aug. 14. Photographer: Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images.