Fires – While the Gironde was in France, fires were affected, Spain and Portugal were not excluded. Both countries are experiencing a heat wave with temperatures sometimes exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in some areas, and the two countries also have to deal with forest fires.
In Portugal, a fire that lasted overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday killed one person in the northern Aveiro region, according to emergency services. According to the newspaper Koryo da ManhaShe was a woman in her fifties. The fire, which reportedly broke out in a cornfield, has since been brought under control.
Relief has been mobilizing vigorously for several days in the center of the country due to wildfires caused by scorching temperatures. Temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in most of the country, rising to 46 degrees Celsius in the Santarem region.
The center of the country, which has been on fire since Thursday, remains hardest hit by the bushfires that broke out again on Tuesday afternoon, ignited by heat and strong winds. More than 3,000 hectares burned in the Leiria region alone, located north of Lisbon.
Expected peak heat in Spain
Spain is not immune to fires either. Firefighters and soldiers battle the blazes in the Extremadura region in the west of the country, where at least 3,500 hectares have burned, and about 400 people had to be evacuated.
If the heat wave is expected to last from a week to ten days, that is, at least until Sunday, then the Spanish authorities expect the heat to peak on Thursday, July 14. “We are expecting this to be the hottest day in this heatwave,” Spain’s AEMET forecasting institute said. Almost all of Spain was put on alert on Wednesday, with the exception of the Canary Archipelago. Andalusia (south), Extremadura (southwest) and Galicia (northwest) are on red alert. In these areas, temperatures can reach 45 degrees Celsius, according to AEMET.
See also on The HuffPost: Heatwave in Asia: We’ve crossed that threshold and are dying from the heat, and here’s why
