Europe's heatwave spares the Alps, but strain remains

Areas of Europe home to at least 92 million people, particularly in France, Italy, and Spain, are set for temperatures over 35C on Wednesday in the continent's latest heatwave, according to AFP calculations cited by The Local Italy.

For the Valle d'Aosta, the heatwave is a distant roar. At altitudes above 1,000 metres, temperatures remain several degrees cooler, making the region a natural refuge for tourists fleeing the plains of Lombardy and Piedmont, where the heat has been relentless.

But the relief is relative. The same heat that drives visitors upward is also accelerating the melting of the region's glaciers, a slow-motion crisis that the foreign press has long linked to climate change. The cool air of Aosta is a reprieve, not a solution.