(Bloomberg) -- Thunderstorms are forecast across the Mediterranean from Corfu to Sicily, where a luxury yacht sank off the coast on Monday after being struck by a waterspout, a form of tornado.
Orange storms alerts are in place for a swath of Italy, including Calabria and Puglia, but also further north along the Adriatic coast. Six people including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch are missing after the yacht named Bayesian sank near Porticello in Sicily.
Italy is struck by about 100 tornadoes a year, according to AtmosphericG2, a company that provides weather data to traders. On average, just over 70 are “marine spouts,” occurring off the coast, with another 30 onshore.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves, triggering extreme weather events from violent storms to wildfires. Countries around the Mediterranean Sea — which reached a record average temperature last week — are some of the most severely impacted as fossil fuel emissions warm the planet.
Record rain triggered a danger alert last week on the Spanish island of Menorca, while more than a dozen boats were driven on to the coast of Formentera as a heat wave gave way to violent storms.
Heat warnings are still in place across southern Spain, with temperatures climbing as high as 40C (104F). Red alerts for heat also cover parts of Romania.
On Tuesday, heavy rain and intense storms are forecast for northern Greece, including the city of Thessaloniki, as well as the Ionian Sea islands. A large water spout was seen off the coast of Zakynthos on Monday.
Parts of the Balkans are also under warnings for severe thunderstorms on Tuesday.
At the same time, Athens and the surrounding Attica region face a high risk of wildfires, along with most of Peloponnese and the islands of Rhodes, Crete and Evia. There were 25 blazes in 24 hours to 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Later on Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will preside over a meeting in Penteli north of Athens to discuss measures for managing and restoring those areas east and north of the capital that were devastated by a huge fire last week.
Following initial inspections, 55 homes will need to be demolished, while 91 require rebuilding after being damaged by the blaze.
The wildfire risks aren’t confined to southern Europe. By Thursday, there will be an extreme wildfire danger across parts of the UK, including London, according to the Copernicus climate change service.
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