Italy swelters, Hungary and Romania turn off the lights as Europe’s heatwave takes toll

Italy took the unprecedented step of putting all its major cities on the top level of health alert due to high temperatures on Thursday, while Hungary turned off the lights at some of its best-known buildings to save energy as a heatwave maintained its grip on large parts of Europe.

Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent, has been ravaged by record-breaking heat and destructive wildfires this summer, with France and Spain particularly hard hit in recent weeks....