After a man collapsed and died in Italy, tourists in Southern Europe have been cautioned of a severe 48°C heatwave known as Cerberus.
The 44-year-old was working in Lodi, southeast of Milan, as temperatures climbed beyond 40°C yesterday, according to Italy24.
The man, who worked as a road sign installer, collapsed in front of his coworkers and eventually died in the hospital.
His death is thought to have been caused by the anticyclone weather system Cerberus, which is crawling over the continent from the Sahara desert.
The Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily are expected to reach a record breaking 48°C.
The general secretary of Fenealuil Milan-Cremona-Lodi-Pavia, Salvatore Cutaia, said: ‘The climate is a cause of accident and also of death. This is a situation that could be repeated given the temperatures.
‘We find ourselves once again having to mourn a 44-year-old worker who has only done his job.’
The anticyclone has been named after the three-headed dog from Greek mythology, who guards the gates to the underworld.
Many British tourists are suffering from heat exhaustion, with one woman collapsing in front of the Colosseum in Rome as temperatures reached 36°C.
Tourists were photographed relaxing beneath trees, while some used their shirts as parasols to protect themselves from the sun.
However, the Met Office has stated that the UK would be spared the high temperatures.
It is expected the extreme hot weather will last for two weeks.
Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge said: ‘The heatwave conditions which are affecting parts of south west Europe and north west Africa are expected to extend eastward.
‘Much higher than average temperatures are also likely at times further north across Europe, but these will be shorter lived and less impactful.
‘Communities in the affected regions should expect health impacts and the potential for wildfires.’