At 119 degrees, Sicily may have recorded Europe's highest temperature in modern history
Residents on the Italian island of Sicily are facing scorching temperatures that could have broken a 40-year-old record in Europe.
Local authorities recorded a high of 119.85 degrees Wednesday afternoon as the country experiences a heat wave and an anticyclone, a high wind system that circulates clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
Referred to as "Lucifer," the anticyclone began in Africa and moved toward Europe, adding to a heat wave that has led to wildfires in the Mediterranean and North Africa.
The temperature in Sicily from Wednesday needs to be verified by the World Meteorological Organization. The highest temperature ever recorded in Europe is 118.4 degrees, set on Oct. 7, 1977, in Athens, Greece.
"At the moment there are no reasons to invalidate it, but if possible we will make an ex-post evaluation on the accuracy of the measure," the Sicilian Agrometeorological Information Service told CNN.
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Heat waves in 2019 led three European countries – Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands – to break their respective high-temperature records. Paris also broke its highest temperature at 108 degrees that same summer.
The possible record-breaking temperature in Sicily comes on the heels of a report from the U.N. International Panel on Climate Change published on Monday that said humans have caused climate change that will lead to the average global temperature increasing and more extreme weather events.
"The report paints a very sobering picture of the unforgiving, unimaginable world we have in store if our addiction to burning fossil fuels and destroying forests continues. One of the most striking takeaways is that we may reach 1.5°C of warming a decade earlier than the IPCC had previously found," Helen Mountford of the World Resources Institute said.
Contributing: Doyle Rice
Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.