After 18,000 heat-related deaths last summer, Italy is yet again scrambling to protect people from an oppressive 'heat dome'

• Italian officials are telling people to stay inside as temperatures approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Factory workers in the south are threatening to strike as temperatures become too dangerous to work.

Stay inside, drink water, and avoid alcohol: These are the recommendations from Italian officials as the country swelters under a suffocating heat dome this summer.

Temperatures reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit in Italy this week, according to the New York Times. The heat is particularly dangerous in Italy, where less than 10% of residents have air conditioning, CNN reports.

Last summer, a heat wave that swept across Europe, killing more than 60,000 people. About 18,000 of those deaths were in Italy alone. Now the country is preparing for another potentially deadly summer as a heat dome — a wave of high pressure that traps hot air for an extended period — settles over the country.

Workers throughout the region are at particularly high risk of heat-related illness and factory workers in southern Italy are preparing to go on strike, The Guardian reported.

One car factory even sent workers home early on July 18 after the heat became too dangerous. The outlet reported two workers in Italy are suspected to have died of heat-related illness in recent days: one man in his 60s working in a bakery and a 44-year-old working on roads in Milan.

Meanwhile, Italian officials have asked businesses not to send workers outside from noon until 5 pm, according to CNN.

The heat is not expected to subside anytime soon, and the coming week may bring record-breaking temperatures to Italy and nearby countries. This pattern may repeat itself for summers to come, some climate experts say, as Europe is experiencing an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves faster than any other region, the New York Times reports.