An unrelenting heatwave that is seeing summer temperatures skyrocket across southern Europe has meant tourists are turning their backs on the Mediterranean and instead choosing cooler destinations to dodge the heat, it has been revealed.

The number of tourists planning to visit the Mediterranean region between June to November has already fallen 10 per cent compared to last year, when scorching weather led to droughts and wildfires, according to figures from the European Travel Commission (ETC). 

But British tourists are refusing to let the hot weather ruin their holiday plans to sunbathe on a Mediterranean beach this summer as temperatures are set to soar to 48C on the Italian island of Sardinia today. 

Indeed, Britons are booking fewer holidays at home and more in the Mediterranean, often many months in advance, as they continue to crave post-lockdown beach escapes, said Sean Tipton of British travel agent group ABTA.

British tourists are revelling in the heat and enjoying sunbathing on beaches across Benidorm in Spain and Albufeira in Portugal while others sought relief from the searing temperatures by having drinks at nearby bars.

British tourists are revelling in the heat and enjoying sunbathing on beaches across Benidorm in Spain

British tourists are enjoying the hot weather in Benidorm, Spain, on Monday

British tourists are revelling in the heat in Benidorm, Spain, on Monday 

British tourists are revelling in the hot weather that is sending temperatures soaring in Benidorm, Spain, on Monday 

A woman pours water on a man near the Colosseum, during a heatwave across Italy, as temperatures are expected to rise further in the coming days, in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday

Tourists sit down in the shade and drink water as they try to cool down during a heat wave in Rome, Italy, on Monday

While British tourists are choosing to still fly out to a scorching Mediterranean, other travellers are choosing to holiday in cooler destinations like Ireland, Czech Republic, Denmark and Bulgaria. 

‘We anticipate that unpredictable weather conditions in the future will have a greater impact on travellers’ choices in Europe,’ said Miguel Sanz, the head of the ETC.

A report by the trade body also shows 7.6 per cent of travellers now see extreme weather events as a major concern for trips between June and November.

Among them are Anita Elshoy and her husband, who returned home to Norway from their favourite vacation spot of Vasanello, a village north of Rome, a week earlier than planned this month as temperatures reached around 35C.

‘(I) got a lot of pain in the head, legs and (my) fingers swelled up and I became more and more dizzy,’ Elshoy said of her heat-related symptoms. ‘We were supposed to be there for two weeks, but we couldn’t (stay) because of the heat.’

Demand for travel has soared again this summer as tourists leave behind years of pandemic restrictions, and travel companies say the heat hasn’t caused many cancellations – yet.

But that balance could shift as heatwaves are set to become more gruelling. Scientists have long warned that climate change, caused by CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels, will make weather events more frequent, severe and deadly.

The UN today warned that the world should prepare to face increasingly intense heatwaves.  

‘These events will continue to grow in intensity, and the world needs to prepare for more intense heatwaves,’ John Nairn, a senior extreme heat advisor at the UN’s World Meteorological Organization, told reporters in Geneva.

British tourists have been forced to flee their holiday homes across southern Europe this week as wildfires ripped through tourist hotspots in Greece, Switzerland, Spain and Turkey.

And there is no end in sight for the unrelenting heatwave in the Mediterranean that has seen tourists faint and thousands run for their lives from fierce wildfires tearing through seaside resorts. 

The sweltering heat is set to soar even higher today after a new cyclone called Charon, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of the dead, hit Europe yesterday.  

The Italian island of Sardinia is set to bear the brunt of the unforgiving heat, with forecasters predicting that temperatures could reach up to 48C later today and edge ever closer to the record of 48.8C set in the Sicilian town of Floridia in August 2021. This has raised fears of a repetition of last year’s heat deaths.   

Italian meteorological society president Luca Mercalli said: ‘Even if that record [48.8C] is not broken, we are seeing a heatwave the length of which is unprecedented.’

British tourists across the Mediterranean are being warned of the life-threatening dangers of the blazing sun, with temperatures set to reach 46C in Antalya, Turkey, and 44C in Zaragoza, southern Spain, today. The ‘unprecedented’ heat is likely to continue into August in some areas, the World Meteorological Organisation said.

Stories of tourists being airlifted off Italian beaches or ferried away in ambulances from Athens’ Acropolis have flooded European media in recent weeks.

‘Our recent research indicates a decline in the number of people interested in travelling in August, the peak month, while more Europeans are considering autumn trips,’ Sanz said.

Tourists in Rome told Reuters they would think twice about booking a trip there again in July as they struggled to drink enough water, stay cool and find air-conditioned spots to rest.

‘I would come when it’s colder. Only June, April,’ said Dalphna Niebuhr, an American tourist on holiday with her husband in Rome this week, who said the heat was making her visit ‘miserable.’

That’s bad news for Italy’s economy, which thrives on busy summer traffic.

Italy’s Environment Ministry warned in a report this year that foreign tourists would in future travel more in the spring and autumn and choose cooler destinations.

‘The balance will be negative, also because part of the Italian tourists will contribute to the flow of international tourism to less hot countries,’ the report said.

People queue to refill their water bottles, during a heatwave across Italy in Bologna on Tuesday

Holidaymakers bathe in Lierna, on Lake Como, northern Italy, on Monday amid soaring temperatures

A man covers his head in water at a fountain in Rome, Italy, on Monday amid scorching temperatures

A woman cools off at Fontana della Barcaccia at the Spanish Steps in Rome during a heat wave across Italy on Monday 

People enjoy the sun on a beach in Nice, France, on Monday 

Boys dive into Lake Como, at Lierno, northern Italy, on Monday amid a searing heatwave 

British holidaymakers trying to stay cool during Spain’s heatwave in Benidorm

British tourists are braving the extreme heat to sunbathe on beaches and walk along the promenades across Benidorm in Spain on Monday

British tourists in Benidorm are braving the heatwave, with many seeking shelter in the shade on Monday

Young men dive into the Mediterranean sea in Marseille, southern France, on Monday

Some hope that the change will simply be a shift in traffic, not a reduction.

In Greece, where international air arrivals were up 87.5 per cent year-on-year between January and March, overcrowding in the summer has plagued tourist hot spots like the island of Mykonos.

Increased travel in the winter, spring and autumn months could ease that problem and make up for a potential summer slowdown, according to the Greek environment ministry.

Greek authorities closed Athens’ ancient Acropolis during the hottest part of the day on Friday to protect tourists.

In Spain, high vacation demand is expected in coastal destinations in the north of the country and on Spanish tourist islands, where summer temperatures tend to be cooler, according to a report from national tourism association Exceltur.

Spaniards Daniel Otero and Rebeca Vazquez, who were visiting Bilbao, said they might move their holiday to June next year, when it would be cooler and more comfortable.

For Elshoy, summers in southern Europe may be a thing of the past. She said she will consider holidaying in her home country of Norway instead, adding: ‘I don’t want to have a holiday where I have a headache and am dizzy again.’

The sweltering heat that is stifling Europe has sparked wildfires that have ripped through holiday homes across Greece, Switzerland, Spain and Turkey, forcing thousands to evacuate from several popular tourist hotspots.

In the canton of Valais, Switzerland, more than 200 firefighters worked relentlessly throughout the night to douse the flames of a roaring wildfire but the flames engulfed villas in several popular mountain villages.

In Greece, a wildfire intensified overnight and swept along forests north of Athens for a second day on Tuesday, as firefighters managed to contain other blazes southeast and west of the capital. 

Flames approach a house as a wildfire burns in Saronida, near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday

On the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canaries, meanwhile, at least 4,000 people had to be evacuated as a forest fire burned out of control following a heatwave, authorities said

Pictured: A wildfire on the flank of a mountain in Bitsch near Brig, Switzerland, on Tuesday

The forest fire in Hatay is spreading towards the city on Monday in Turkey 

A helicopter carries water to a wildfire on the flank of a mountain in Bitsch near Brig, Switzerland, on Tuesday

Local residents try to protect a house from the raging fire in Lagonisi area, some 35 kilometeres from Athens

Thousands of holidaymakers at six seaside resorts in Greece, including Lagonissi and Loutraki, have been evacuated due to raging wildfires

The blaze raged uncontrolled and burned forest in the area of Dervenochoria about 18 miles north of the tourist hotspot of Athens, a fire service official said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of holidaymakers have been forced to flee from the wildfires as officials said the blaze had ripped through 7,000 acres of land along the coast, where tourists stay in holiday homes. 

Temperatures are expected to soar further this week, with temperatures reaching 42C in Greece and Cyprus in the coming days. 

And in Italy, tourists have been warned to brace for ‘the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time’.

Health officials have issued red weather alert warnings for 20 cities across Italy, including Rome where temperatures are expected to soar to a record-breaking 43C. The capital’s previous record high of 40.5C was set in August 2007. 

A red alert warning means that the heat is so intense that it poses a health risk to the whole population – not just vulnerable groups like the elderly and very young children.

Britons who have travelled to the Mediterranean have told how the heat is so intense that they have suffered sunstroke and been forced to stay indoors during the hottest hours of the day.

The heatwave has left some Brits rethinking their holiday plans as they make last-minute cancellations and opt for getaways closer to home. But some in Benidorm were pictured having the time of their lives as they used cold beers and cool misty sprays to keep cool in the Spanish holiday destination.

One Briton, Victoria Moy, recently cancelled a trip to Sicily, Italy, in favour of Dorset due to soaring temperatures. She told MailOnline: ‘Couldn’t think of anything worse than 32 degrees with a toddler!

‘We had booked to go to Palermo in Sicily from 5-12 July. Booked £400 flights and paid for them, and I reserved an Air BnB. I had planned to go to a cookery school in the heart of Palermo to perfect some Italian recipes. 

An aerial view of drought Lavender Field in Lunel the Herault department of southern France on July 16

People cool off at a water fountain in Messina, on the island of Sicily, during a heatwave on Sunday

Tourists rest on a bench in the shade in Rome, Italy, on Monday

A man stands in front of a fan before entering the Colosseum in Rome during a heat wave across Italy on Monday

A man whose head is covered in a scarf to shield him from the searing sun fills a bottle of water at the Fontana della Barcaccia at the Spanish Steps in Rome during a heat wave across Italy on Monday 

The devastating effects of the heatwave has been seen across Europe, with a 44-year-old road sign worker dying due to the heat in Italy. 

The 44-year-old Italian man, who has not been named, collapsed last Tuesday due to the heat in the Italian city of Lodi, southeast Milan, as temperatures soared to above 40C. The worker, who has not been named, later died in hospital. 

Scientists have relentlessly warned of the damaging effects of climate change. As well as withering crops, melting glaciers and raising the risk of wildfires, higher-than-normal temperatures also cause health problems ranging from heatstroke and dehydration to cardiovascular stress.

Scientists have said climate change combined with the emergence this year of the El Nino weather pattern, which warms the surface waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, have fuelled scorching temperatures. 

El Nino events, which occur every two to seven years, are marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific near the Equator, and last about nine to 12 months.  

Research published on Monday found that more than 61,000 people died due to the heat during Europe’s record-breaking summer last year.

The majority of deaths were in people over the age of 80 and about 63 percent of those who died due to the heat were women, according to the research published in the journal Nature Medicine.

The world has warmed an average of nearly 1.2C since the mid-1800s, unleashing extreme weather including more intense heatwaves, more severe droughts and storms made fiercer by rising seas.

Oceans absorb most of the heat generated by planet-warming gases, causing heatwaves that harm aquatic life, altering weather patterns and disrupting crucial planet-regulating systems.

In June, global sea surface temperatures hit unprecedented levels. Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest extent for the month since satellite observations began, at 17 per cent below average, breaking the previous June record by a substantial margin.

While sea surface temperatures normally recede relatively quickly from annual peaks, this year they stayed high, with scientists warning that this underscores an underappreciated but grave impact of climate change.

‘If the oceans are warming considerably, that has a knock-on effect on the atmosphere, on sea and ice worldwide,’ said Michael Sparrow, chief of World Climate Research Programme at the WMO.

‘There’s a lot of concerns from the scientific community and a lot of catch-up from the scientific community trying to understand the incredible changes that we’re seeing at the moment.’