ATHENS   -  The Acropolis in Greece shut for hours, record-breaking ocean temperatures off Croatia and plans to feed zoo animals popsicles in Italy, southern Europe is baking under a “hellishly hot” heat wave. Greece’s Culture Ministry ordered the closure of the Acropolis — the country’s biggest cultural attraction — for five hours from 12 p.m. local time on Wednesday, forcing tourists hoping to visit the Parthenon temple atop the site to line up early in the morning. The Red Cross handed out chilled bottled water and information fliers to those waiting in line.

“We got it done and got out quick, and now we’re going to some air conditions and some more libation and enjoy the day,” said Toby Dunlap, who was visiting from Pennsylvania and had just toured the Acropolis. “But it’s hot up there, it really is. If you don’t come prepared, you’re going to sweat.” The heat has come largely from hot air blowing in from Africa, which meteorologists forecast will continue through Sunday. Temperatures are expected to peak at 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit). In Italy, two firefighters died putting out a blaze in the Basilicata region in the country’s south, authorities said. Officials added Palermo, Sicily, to the list of 13 Italian cities with a severe heat warning. Elderly people in the city of Verona were urged to stay indoors, while sprinklers were set up to cool passersby. In Rome, tourist Carmen Díaz, from Madrid, was trying to keep cool with a fan at lunchtime. “It’s hellishly hot,” she said. “These fans help a little too, but it’s really hot.” To beat the heat, Rome’s zoo made plans to offer popsicle respite for the animals later this week when temperatures were expected to top 38 degrees (100 F). “It really feels like we are in an oven with a hair dryer pointed at us,” said Patrizia Valerio, who had just arrived in Rome from Varese to catch a Coldplay concert Tuesday night.

Fellow concert-goer Mattia Rossi noted that the freak storms that hit Italy earlier this summer were evidence of climate change wreaking havoc on the southern Mediterranean’s weather systems. “These are all symptoms of a planet that is suffering in my opinion,” Rossi said.

The climate crisis, driven mainly from humans burning fossil fuels, is now playing a role in every heat wave on the planet, scientists say, making them longer, more frequent and more intense. Heat warnings are in place across cities in the Balkans, as well. In Croatia, authorities reported the highest-ever temperatures of the Adriatic Sea, which lies between the country and Italy, with the thermometer reaching nearly 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) by the southern walled city of Dubrovnik, the country’s most popular tourism spot. In Serbia, the state power company reported record consumption Tuesday due to the use of air conditioning.

In Albania, the heat led the government to reschedule working hours for civil servants, making it easier for some to work from home. Neighboring North Macedonia struggled with dozens of wildfires. One major blaze stretched across nearly 30 kilometers (21 miles). Firefighting aircraft from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania and Turkey responded to the country’s call for assistance. The brutal heat wave hitting southern Europe has so far spared Paris, which is set to host the Olympics later this month. Temperatures were a comparatively chilly 22 C on Tuesday, though they were expected to rise later in the week only to fall again after the weekend.