NICOSIA, June 14 (Xinhua) — An elderly woman has died and several other people have been hospitalized with heatstroke symptoms as temperatures in Cyprus soared on Friday to an all-time June high of 45 degrees Celsius, the country’s health authorities announced.
Cyprus is affected by a second consecutive hot air mass that has kept temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius since Tuesday, with 44 degrees Celsius recorded on Thursday. However, slightly cooler weather is expected from Sunday onwards.
Public Health Services spokesman Charalambos Charilaou said the deceased woman had suffered two cardiac arrests as a result of heatstroke.
“Because of the extremely high temperatures over the last few days public hospitals across Cyprus were faced with many cases of heat exhaustion. Five people are still hospitalized with heatstroke symptoms,” he said.
The Weather Service office said that temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius are usually recorded in July and August, but has been unprecedented for June when median temperatures are around 34 degrees Celsius.
These phenomena are due to climate change and are here to stay, the weather service said, adding that this month’s high temperatures constitute a record.
The Labor Department has banned all outdoor activities, particularly in the building industry. Meanwhile, the Education Ministry ordered the closure of all public schools after 10:45 a.m. (0745 GMT) as a Weather Service red warning for high temperatures came into effect.
