42/107 Rome this coming Tuesday. Seville same Monday, Belgrade 41/104.
Hottest forecast days above, but unrelenting - It will be very hot before, and stay very hot after too.
I used to travel to Southern Europe in the summer. Spent an entire summer working the season in Greece even. But nowadays it seems so darn hot so much of the time that it is hardly worth it.
To me anyway. Anybody still jazzed about traveling to southern Europe in the summer? Or have you changed your habits?
It's like visiting Phoenix in July. Why?
I just booked the week after next in Madrid. Certainly not an ideal time, but can enjoy relaxing in the heat and I have the luxury of not having a tourist's agenda.
Geez- it's hot enough here in inland San Diego- and I went to the beach today and was disappointed that it was foggy and only 75+ degrees F.
Well, it all makes me feel slightly better about being home in Texas in August - our hottest month. I keep thinking I could have planned better…. 🤣
"It's like visiting Phoenix in July. Why?"
How comfortable is strolling around Phoenix in July?
According to my weather app, it was 115° in Phoenix today. The overnight low is supposed to be 93°. Forecast high for Saturday and Sunday is 117°. Humidity 20%.
At the closest weather station to where we live out in the desert southwest of Tucson it was a cool 102° today. The overnight low is supposed to be 82°. Forecast high for Saturday is 106° and 107° on Sunday. Humidity 40%.
That's a difference between an urban heat island and a natural landscape, even if it is desert like this.
Many popular destinations in Europe are cities, urban heat islands, just like cities anywhere. Here's an EPA link for more info on the topic: https://www.epa.gov/heatislands.
I've been in southern Europe in the summer several times, mostly with AC where I stayed. I may not go at that time of year again. And I'm glad I'm home this summer where I can be very comfortable with our AC set to 77° and our ceiling fans turning at low and medium speeds.
No, I have a personal rule to never travel south of the Alps in the summer. It's too warm.
Meanwhile in Sweden, my thermometer currently shows that it's 23°C outside so it seems like it will be a lovely summer day. And the amount of tourists here are still manageble.
I have never traveled overseas in the summer and do not plan to, especially now. I'm so glad I have the option of traveling outside that time period.
The 10-day forecast for a selection of cities on the north coast of Spain predicts daily highs between 70-80 degrees.
Broad brushes paint big blinders.
The 10-day forecast for a selection of cities on the north coast of
Spain predicts daily highs between 70-80 degrees.Broad brushes paint big blinders.
Thanks for this! I am aware that the Atlantic-facing coasts stay cooler, as do the mountains, other micro-climate areas as well. Portugal (in general) should be nicer weather. I'm in fact planning to cycle the French coast in a week from now for just this very reason.
I should have been more specific! But I assumed that people who know a little bit about the world already understand what you have kindly outlined for us above. But of course not everyone is well aware. Thanks for guiding us.
I'll amend the title of my post :)
We just went to France this June, and the blazing hot sun in Strasbourg changed our plans.
Had planned to rent bikes and bike wine villages, but it was just too hot. Also we stayed in a charming old building….Airbnb with no AC. It was hotter inside than out.
Ended up going to Paris a day earlier and getting a hotel with sweet AC. It was much cooler temp wise there too, so it was a good call.
In researching this trip, the Alsace area showed historic temps in the 70’s…even the last few years. But you just can’t count on that anymore. (Had to be June for school break)
September used to be my favorite month for Europe …but even then the heat can strike. I think October going forward.
Big Mike, I've been in Phoenix in July and it gives a new meaning to the word "hot" but their dry heat is not nearly as uncomfortable as hot with humidity, which we know as "summer" everywhere I've ever lived and which may be the case in Southern Europe. That being said, I would hesitate about traveling in places where it's that hot and AC is not as common.
Getting worse than predicted, and now has a name, heat dome "Charon." Dramatic choice ....
I'm done visiting Europe in the summer, except for maybe the nordic countries. Even so, I found Copenhagen uncomfortably warm late last August. I was hot pretty much the whole time I was there. I got onto a crowded train going back to Copenhagen from visiting the Louisiana Museum of Art and I thought I was going to burst into flames. I also think that's where I caught Covid - it was too hot to keep my mask on. I vowed that any further summer travel needed to be to somewhere like the Yukon Territories, or Svalbard, or northern Greenland.
kayla.p, right there with you. I wouldn't travel to most of Europe in the summer unless they had AC. I can't sleep any more if I'm too warm. We had the top floor in Paris years ago when the temperature hit the 90s. Not fun sweating in bed.
Add Edinburgh, too. It was in the 50s and 60s with periods of rain. Not always light rain. Quite refreshing compared to home where it's in the 80s and 90s most summer days.
With a school age kid, my family will keep going in the summer, but I would not hate being in a position to do like the previous two posters 👍
One thing I'm doing more of when planning is looking at elevation, I'm trying to stay in places that are a little bit higher up. This means a lot of different peripheries of the Alps, which I'm not going to complain about. In the Dolomites area this year I opted for our long stay in a rental to be in Bruneck/Brunico. It's at almost 3,000 ft. That's 10° Fahrenheit cooler than if it was at sea level, probably breezier because of the elevation, definitely dryer because of the elevation, and will cool off harder and faster at night.
I'll bet some of the lesser known more mountainous regions of France are actually pretty sweet in the summer still, some big towns and villages high up enough in those places to not go full el scorcho!
How hot is it....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXR0uoxUvaw
(Robin Williams)
Ok, I just left Salzburg and am somewhere else not too far for a couple of days. Warm in the afternoon a few days, very cool today in Koenigsee. Absolutely lovely weather.
Ok, I just left Salzburg and am somewhere else not too far for a
couple of days. Warm in the afternoon a few days, very cool today in
Koenigsee. Absolutely lovely weather.
The north side of the Alps are like the Dark Side of the Moon - still pretty cool 🙂
