Irish holidaymakers overseas may be enjoying more sun than those at home, but the heatwave gripping large parts of Europe is making travel less than comfortable for some.
Extreme heat engulfed many countries bordering the Mediterranean last month while, according to the EU’s climate change monitoring service, June was the hottest on record.
Donal Bracken and his family are regular visitors to France and Italy, having travelled to both regularly since 2008. While their love of this part of Europe has not waned, coping with the heat has been more difficult this summer than in the past.
“We always go camping and usually stay for a month in Lago de Trasimeno on the borders of Umbria and Tuscany,” Bracken says. “This year we arrived on our campsite on July 16th and by that point, the temperature was 35 degrees and since then it has varied from 30 to 36. These temperatures are well above what we experienced in the preceding years.
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“So, we’ve learned to rise early, get our cycling done by 11.30am and chill in the afternoon – courtesy of our caravan aircon – and then enjoy the evening hours when the temperature is between 26 and 29.
“We have not experienced heat like this in the area before. We will not holiday in this region in July or August in the future as we would not be able to be here if we did not have air conditioning.”
Bracken was one of several people who responded to a recent call-out from The Irish Times asking readers to share their experiences of the European heat this summer.
Layla Kenny spent three weeks in Torrevieja in southern Spain before heading to Barcelona. While her time spent at the beach was very hot, she says being in the city is “on another level”.
“I definitely didn’t expect this kind of heat, and it does feel like a step up from when I visited last summer,” she says. “The hottest day we’ve had so far was 36 degrees in Barcelona, which happened to be the day we hiked Montserrat [the mountain range on the outskirts of the city].
“The heat definitely feels more intense in the city compared to the seaside, but we didn’t let it stop us from doing any of the activities we had planned, partly because being inside the apartment offered no relief from the heat – so we thought we might as well accept the constant state of sweat.”
Kenny adds: “The only real problem I had with the heat was that it affected my stomach quite a lot for some reason – any food or drink mixed with the extreme temperatures made me quite sick most days. But despite this, I would definitely go back, as I have enjoyed every day so far.
“I feel like my body has mostly adjusted to this weather, although I know this is not the case for a lot of Irish people, as generally, we struggle with these temperatures.”
[ Holidays in a heatwave: A survival guide for Irish people heading abroadOpens in new window ]
Kenny’s travelling companion Anastasiia Momot, who is originally from Ukraine, has been living in Dublin for 2½ years and is well aware of how the weather in Spain is vastly different from that of her adopted country.
“They say it was 36 degrees in Barcelona but, really it feels like 46,” she says. “I expected that kind of weather, but didn’t expect that it would be so difficult for me and I wanted to go back to Ireland on the second day. Although we have not been spending a lot of time at the beach, we have done all the activities we planned, including a stand-up paddle [boarding] at 6am, which was the best, There was an amazing view, cool weather and a warm sea.
“Overall, I think I’m an Irish weather person. Of course, Spain is a beautiful and amazing country with delicious food and very welcoming people and I would definitely go back again, but not in summer.”
A little further north, it might be expected to be cooler, but Tony Sheehan and his family are currently in Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, France. He says the heat has been “horrendous” and the experience of being in a built up area has made an already sizzling situation even hotter.
“It is 34 degrees centigrade in Cannes, but in reality, you could add another four degrees on to that because we’re staying in an Airbnb in the city centre and the amount of concrete creates an inferno-like heat,” he says.
“It has been so hot that my phone actually overheated and broke. In addition to the high temperatures, the traffic in Cannes is heavy and the smell of petrol from the mopeds and Ferraris is noxious and disgusting – we have not seen one electric car here.
“And the state of the seawater is worse as it is hot and tastes of marine fuel from all the yachts and cruisers anchored off the beach. The French here seem to be living in the 1980s and if it is true that 1 per cent of the people cause 90 per cent of the pollution, then nowhere is it more evident than here.”
But while the heat is certainly causing many Irish holidaymakers to seek shade and slather on gallons of sun cream, they are not letting it put them off having fun, as Aideen Lawlor can attest to.
Also holidaying in the France, she and her family made the most of the amenities around Bouches-du-Rhone in Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur during their recent trip.
“We have just spent two weeks in Toulon and Marseilles,” she says. “The temperature in the city was 33 or 34 degrees for the last few days and based on previous trips there at the same time year, it is definitely warmer this summer. However the heat has not stopped our family of four enjoying the beaches, some Olympic events and the general holiday spirit.
“The French are used to dealing with the heat and so they provide areas of shelter on the beaches. And the Olympic sailing event we attended included access to clean beaches, a free boat trip, free water points and water sprays. With plenty of sunscreen, protective clothing and access to water to cool down, I think that it was still possible to enjoy the sunshine safely as well as create some special memories for our family.”
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