ZAGREB, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) issued red heat warnings on Wednesday, alerting the public to an intense heatwave expected to hit the country in the coming days, with temperatures forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius from this weekend.
Based on current forecasts, the first red warning for extreme heat was issued for the Rijeka region from Thursday, followed by the Dubrovnik region on the southern Adriatic coast from Friday. The warning will be extended to the capital Zagreb and the Split region from Saturday.
According to DHMZ, an anticyclonic system extending across much of southwestern and central Europe will keep very warm and dry air over the region in the coming days, bringing hot to very hot conditions to Croatia and a high to very high risk of heat-related health impacts.
Heat stress will be compounded by insufficient overnight cooling, with minimum temperatures remaining high, particularly along the coast, where they are expected to stay at or above 25 degrees Celsius.
DHMZ said the highest temperature ever recorded in Croatia was 42.8 degrees Celsius, registered in the city of Ploce on Aug. 4, 1981. ■
