The dramatic outcome of the heat wave is expected to continue after the weekend. Many Western European countries are continuing to battle devastating bushfires on Sunday, meteorologists said, with many temperatures likely to drop early next week.
In southwestern France, the mobilization of firefighters to fix the fires has not weakened, particularly in the Gironde where smoke has now erupted in nearly 10,500 hectares of forest since Tuesday, in the context of a generalized heat wave where temperatures can reach 40 degrees locally, according to For Météo France, which placed 37 oaths on Sunday’s orange “heat wave” vigil.
Portugal saw a lull on the fire front Sunday morning. One large concentration area, near the municipality of Chaves in the far north of the country, has been designated as active and “virtually under control” of 90% of its perimeter according to the Portuguese Civil Protection.
video. Fire in Portugal: Films himself on a highway surrounded by fire
However, this Sunday almost all Portuguese territories presented an “extreme”, “very high” or “high” fire risk, particularly the central and northern interior.
Two dead and about 60 injured in Portugal
The Portuguese Meteorological Institute issued no warning of high temperatures on Sunday. This is the first time since July 8 that temperatures in Portugal must not exceed 40 degrees Celsius. According to the last known report from the Portuguese Civil Protection, last week’s fires left two people dead and nearly sixty injured. According to his estimates, between 12,000 and 15,000 hectares of forests and trees have been destroyed by these fires since the onset of the heat wave.
In Spain, about 20 forest fires are still raging and still out of control in different parts of the country, from the south to the far northwest in Galicia, where the fires have so far destroyed about 4,400 hectares of land this week, according to authorities. Only 300 of the 3,000 people who were preemptively evacuated near Malaga, in the far south, were allowed to go home on Sunday.
The Spanish Meteorological Agency forecast “remarkably high” temperatures across most of mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean on Sunday, with mercury forecast to reach 42 degrees in the northern city of Logroño, and 40 degrees in Madrid and Seville.
In the UK, a ‘red’ alert for extreme heat
In Greece, firefighters continued to combat the outbreak that broke out on Friday morning, causing the precautionary evacuation of seven villages in a rural area of Rethymno prefecture on the island of Crete.
In northern Europe, in the United Kingdom, the national weather agency issued the first-ever “red” alert for extreme heat, warning of a “risk to life”. The Met Office said temperatures in southern England could hit 40 degrees for the first time on Monday or Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the world, extreme temperatures have also caused forest fires, particularly in northern Morocco where one person died and half of the 4,660 hectares affected went into smoke. Western Canada has also been hit by a fire that has been ravaging the Lytton region since Thursday, which was already devastated last year by a historic heat wave and devastating fires.
This heat wave is the second in barely a month in Europe. The proliferation of these phenomena is a direct result of global warming according to scientists, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing in intensity, duration and frequency.
