ǿմý

Lifestyle

    • Heat waves, wildfires, air chaos and overcrowding. How this year's summer vacations fell apart

    Share

    From the litany of bad headlines surrounding the world of travel, you could be forgiven thinking it’s been the summer from hell for vacationers.

    Environmental disasters, aviation industry mishaps and strikes, dirty beaches, soaring temperatures, deluges, price hikes and overcrowding all seem to have conspired to ruin getaways for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people this year.

    For the most part, the inconvenience of travellers has been nothing compared to the tragic impact some of these situations have had on communities around the world.

    But, for many people, a summer break is a much-needed annual highlight that offers respite from the stresses not just of everyday life, but other often extreme hardships.

    Of course, huge numbers of lucky people enjoyed trouble-free vacations around the world. For every angry thread of tweets from airport departure lounges, there were likely many more smiling poolside selfies.

    It’s the bad news that travels furthest. Here’s a roundup of some of the adversity that vacationers have faced over the past few months:

    RELENTLESS HEAT

    Not everyone wants warm, sunny vacations but even sunseekers would’ve had more than they wished for in early summer, with July 2023 as the Earth’s hottest month since records began in 1880.

    It didn’t stop there. This summer was later declared the planet’s hottest for years, breaking previous records by a significant margin.

    Southern Europe sizzled as several fierce heat waves sent temperatures soaring to near all-time highs, making life uncomfortable and even dangerous for tourists and locals alike.

    In Italy, red alert heat warnings were issued alongside guidance for tourists and locals about staying hydrated and seeking out shade and aircon. In Athens, authorities closed key tourist sites including the Acropolis during the hottest part of the day.

    Greece's Acropolis was closed during the hottest part of the day as temperatures rose during the summer. (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

    As the heat built, there were already predictions of shifting tourist patterns with one  suggesting tourists planning trips to the Mediterranean region had dropped by 10 per cent year on year, while interest was increasing in cooler climes like Ireland and Denmark. U.K. travel company Thomas Cook and travel agent association ABTA both told CNN they had seen no discernible difference in July.

    Meanwhile, the extreme weather kept coming.

    Hailstones of up to 10 centimetres, or nearly four inches, hit northern Italy’s Veneto region. Phoenix in the U.S. endured a record-breaking 31 consecutive days of 110 F-plus (43 C) temperatures.

    America’s national parks, particularly Death Valley, the Grand Canyon and Big Bend in Texas, sweltered, and saw several deaths suspected to be heat-related. At the Grand Canyon, QR codes were posted at trailheads linking to info on water and shelter. In Death Valley signs warned tourists not to hike after 10 a.m. Later in the summer, the same location was closed due to storm flooding.

    As temperatures in parts of China soared to new records, extreme heat “tourism” saw visitors flocking to the country’s Flaming Mountains in far-western Xinjiang province to experience scorching temperatures emanating from red sandstone cliffs near Turpan.

    Wearing hats and carrying umbrellas, tourists took selfies by a huge thermometer showing a surface temperature of 80 C (176 F), Chinese state television showed.

    A WORLD ON FIRE

    Inevitably, extreme heat led to extreme wildfires, with tourists and major destinations caught up in some of the worst outbreaks.

    In July, blazes broke out in Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Greece, where wildfires ripped through Corfu, Evia and the outskirts of Athens.

    The popular tourist island of Rhodes was most severely affected after a fire began in the centre of the island on July 18 and quickly spread to the east and south coasts, threatening beach resorts.

    With flames approaching, many tourists and residents were evacuated to makeshift accommodation in sports halls, schools or public buildings on other parts of the island.

    Nearly 20,000 people were evacuated by land and sea, some unable to retrieve passports and other personal effects. Airlines and tour companies cancelled flights and vacations while empty planes were sent to repatriate stranded tourists. Greece later offered free spring or fall 2024 vacations to those affected.

    In August, Tenerife, one of Spain’s normally temperate Canary Islands suffered wildfires with more than 12,000 people forced to flee their homes. Fires broke out in Italy’s Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzo and Puglia regions causing evacuations from homes and hotels. Algeria, in north Africa, also suffered.

    Wildfires broke out on Tenerife, among many other places this summer. (Andres Gutierrez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

    Meanwhile Canada has experienced what experts say was its worst wildfire season in history with more than 1,000 blazes since April. Thousands of people were evacuated across the Northwest Territories and British Columbia, where travel was restricted around the popular tourist destination of Kelowna.

    The most devastating wildfire of the summer hit Lahaina, the historic town popular with tourists on the Hawaiian island of Maui, on August 8, leaving at least 115 people dead. Hawaii Governor Josh Green called it the worst natural disaster in the state’s history.

    Many of Lahaina’s historic and cultural landmarks were decimated by the blaze, including the  – an 1830s-era house believed to be the oldest on Maui – the Lahaina Heritage Museum and the Wo Hing Museum.

    There is hope that the  – a popular focal point - may survive.

    STORM FORCES

    After the fires came the storms, again wreaking havoc on travel while also causing widespread devastation.

    Hurricane Hilary crashed into the U.S. west coast in August bringing destructive rainfall and flooding. The desert city of in an hour than it normally does in a year. At the end of summer, Idalia lashed Florida and other southern states just as the Labour Day weekend approached.

    Parts of Southeast Asia were battered by a number of severe typhoons as storm season hit hard. Typhoons Doksuri, Khanun and Lan came with record rainfall and hurricane-force winds, causing deaths, severe flooding, landslides and widespread power outages.

    Typhoon Khanun also lashed South Korea with deadly force and led to nearly 40,000 teenagers from 155 countries cutting short the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, south of Seoul, when the threat of the approaching typhoon added to problems caused by the heat wave and conditions at the campsite.

    When Typhoon Lan hit Japan’s southern Wakayama prefecture on August 15, super-fast bullet trains were heavily disrupted. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways also scrapped a host of flights.   

    IN HOT WATER

    Another consequence of rising heat has been water temperatures also reaching .

    While on July 25 in Florida’s Manatee Bay might’ve made it uncomfortable for swimmers, they also caused unprecedented mass bleaching and threatened the extinction of coral species on reefs around the Florida Keys.

    One report from the Coral Restoration Foundation found  at Sombrero Reef off the coast of Marathon in the Florida Keys.

    “This is akin to all of the trees in the rainforest dying,” Keri O’Neil, the director and senior scientist at the Florida Aquarium, told CNN. “Where do all of the other animals that rely on the rainforest go to live? This is the underwater version of the trees in the rainforest disappearing. Corals serve that same fundamental role.”

    Rising sea temperature caused unprecedented mass bleaching on reefs around the Florida Keys. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)

    Coral reefs  for Florida’s economy through fishing and tourism and providing jobs.

    And it wasn’t just Florida. The Mediterranean Sea  of 83.1 F (28.4 C) on July 24, according to the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The previous record was 28.25 C (82.85 F) set in 2003.   

    DIRTY WATER

    In stark contrast to the searing heat in southern Europe, the U.K. endured a prolonged spell of mixed and wet weather in July and August, washing out many summer breaks and other sporting and cultural events in Britain. Temperatures only rose in early September when most people’s vacations were over.

    Experts said the unseasonal weather was down to a blocked weather pattern caused by a kink in the jet stream, the wind that blows west to east high up in the atmosphere.

    Perhaps an absence of beach weather was a good thing, with British beachgoers and watersports enthusiasts battling increasing issues with water quality because increased sewage dumping at sea is leaving many .

    FLIGHT CHAOS

    While the frequently creaking U.S. aviation infrastructure held it together over the summer, in Europe there were numerous disruptive events with strikes or threats of strikes by air traffic controllers, pilots or cabin crew leading to thousands of flights being scrapped.

    In late August, an on a single erroneous data point led to U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services restricting traffic, causing widespread delays and cancellations across the continent for days.

    An air traffic control meltdown in the U.K. in August led to flight delays and cancellations all over Europe. (Bav Media/Shutterstock)

    The U.K. has also been hit by an ongoing series of rail strikes in 2023, affecting travellers and commuters alike, while waits at U.K. international ferry terminals such as Dover have become longer than the pre-Brexit era because of extra time needed for passport control.

    OVERCROWDING AND OVERPRICING

    Despite the hazards and hitches across the globe, tourists were still travelling in droves, perhaps as a rebound from COVID-19 lockdowns. In fact, in some places there were so many visitors that authorities felt the need to limit their numbers.

    In France, sites such as the , have been so overwhelmed there are campaigns to send tourists elsewhere or spread visits out over the year. Amsterdam launched an unusual  in an attempt to curb visits from rowdy young Brits and, along with Venice, considered restrictions on cruise ships. On Japan’s sacred Mount Fuji, crowds were so bad 

    Venice, meanwhile, has announced a new 5 euro (US$5.40)  for daytrippers to cut numbers. And Greek officials say the number of daily visitors to the  will be limited from September to preserve the monument.

    On the Spanish vacation island of Mallorca,  to be behind fake signs warning of jellyfish, falling rocks or long walks to reach a nearby beach, saying it’s using them to try to limit overcrowding.

    Crowds of tourists have been an easy target for scammers in Italy, where visitors have faced  like cutting a sandwich in half. Meanwhile many locals say their own country is too expensive for a vacation.

    CTVNews.ca ǿմý

    The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    Canada

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'

    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    • The head of a committee monitoring the government's response to the inquiry into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass killing says she's pleased with progress made so far.

    • The University of Ottawa's special advisor on antisemitism says he has resigned following posts he made on social media celebrating the pager explosions in Lebanon this week.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    • Lawyers representing the producers of 'Russians at War' say they may pursue legal action against Ontario's public broadcaster for pulling support for the controversial documentary amid outcry from the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians.

    • Viewers of Jeopardy got a chance to test their knowledge of trivia about B.C.'s biggest city Wednesday night.

    Business

    Lifestyle

    • They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    Sports

    • Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he's been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season's playoffs.

    • Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette returned to the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger fracture.

    Autos

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.

    • The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."

    Local Spotlight

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

    It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

    A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

    David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

    Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

    • B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    • The 'Namgis First Nation says a fish farm it owns near Port McNeill shows the potential of land-based aquaculture in B.C.

    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'

    • Defence counsel for accused murderer John-Christopher Arrizza argues he was in an “altered state of mind” due to days of drug and alcohol use, sleep deprivation and not eating, when he fatally stabbed a man at a Banff nightclub in 2022.

    • The Parole Board of Canada says a man who assaulted a young pregnant woman and left her for dead remains too dangerous to be released into the community.

    • Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.

    • BREAKING NEWS

      BREAKING NEWS

      A man has been taken to hospital in life-threatening condition following a stabbing incident that happened on Baseline Road in the early hours of Friday morning, according to the Ottawa Paramedic Service.

    • Police say a man who was taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot Thursday night has died.

    • Higher than average temperatures are in the forecast for Ottawa this Friday.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    • Premier François Legault's approval rating continued to rise this summer, according to the Angus Reid Institute. After reaching a low at the end of 2023, his support rose by three percentage points over the summer to 39 per cent.

    • Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.

    • A mother and daughter say they woke up to flames encroaching on their third-floor apartment near Commonwealth Stadium early Friday morning.

    • An Edmonton man who is charged with sexually assaulting a teen boy is a member of the Alberta sheriffs, CTV News Edmonton has confirmed.

    • Gas prices increased in all three Maritime provinces for the first time in more than a month.

    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes "indescribable" pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

    • A section of Herring Cove Road in the Spryfield area of Halifax is closed to traffic in both directions following a single-vehicle collision Friday morning.

    • Manitobans are continuing to mop up after a deluge of rain hit southern Manitoba earlier in the week.

    • Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.

    • A Winnipeg pet rescue is putting out a warning to dog owners across the city about a possible parvovirus in the province.

    • A social media post of purple apples “growing” in Saskatchewan has sparked a lot of attention. However, garden experts say there's no such thing.

    • A case involving stolen funds from a Saskatchewan business being used to purchase cryptocurrency will be heading back to the courts, thanks to a new decision by Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal.

    • Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has confirmed a tornado touched down Wednesday evening near Langbank, Sask.

    • Amber and Adam Brueckner have a pool-shaped hole in their backyard – and their wallets.

    • New details have been shared about a missing family that was last seen on Sept. 1 in Kitchener, Ont.

    • Police are trying to identify a man who approached a woman and child in Wellesley.

    • A gym teacher at a private Christian school in Saskatoon has been charged. Terra MacEwan, 44, is charged with assault with a weapon. A Saskatoon mother who spoke with CTV News says her autistic son was MacEwan's victim.

    • Thomas Hamp says he believed secret police were out to kidnap, torture, and kill him when he fatally stabbed his girlfriend Emily Sanche in February of 2022.

    • A social media post of purple apples “growing” in Saskatchewan has sparked a lot of attention. However, garden experts say there's no such thing.

    • As northern Ontario gets ready to welcome autumn this weekend, it’s still feeling a lot like summer as provincial forest fire crews continue to battle blazes.

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • James Bay Ontario Provincial Police have charged four commercial vehicle drivers with impaired, including one who was hauling 36,000 kilograms of ammonia hydrate.

    • Police say just before 7:00 p.m. four teens entered a business in the 1000 block of Adelaide Street North.

    • Police were focusing their attention on the northeast corner of Richmond and Horton, with members of the emergency response unit taking up positions at the scene.

    • Shedden, southwest of London, hasn’t changed much in decades – but word is spreading that hundreds of new residents could soon be calling the town home.

    • Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.

    • A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    • Ontario Provincial Police executed a search warrant in Walkerton.

    • On Thursday, just after 9:30 a.m., a man was found and taken to police headquarters, where he was released with conditions and a future court date.

    • Standing up, speaking out, and showing solidarity — survivors and supporters gathered in the core to take back the night in Windsor. The city is just one of a growing list of communities that have declared intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic.

    • The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has seized over $56,000 in drugs and have arrested one suspect.

    • In a rare move, the Greater Victoria School District Board of Education has been slapped with a ministerial order from the province requiring it to update a student safety plan – drawing concern around political posturing leading up to an election.

    • The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.

    • To appreciate why Mimi Vandermolen is so pleased to notice one particular vehicle she’s walking past, you need to know that seeing this many cars in one place would have been unimaginable when she was growing-up in the post-war Netherlands.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.

    • A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.

    • Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.

    • A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.

    • North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.

    • Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.

    N.L.

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow CTV News