- Climate scientists say heat waves are more frequent and more intense
- Hundreds of deaths are due to the heat in Portugal
- Britain braces for hottest day on record
- In recent days, temperatures in Spain have reached 45.7 degrees
JERTE, Spain, July 17 (Reuters) – Authorities in southern Europe struggled on Sunday to contain huge forest fires in countries including Spain, Greece and France, with hundreds of deaths attributed to high temperatures that scientists said were consistent with climate change.
In Spain, helicopters dropped water on the flames as heat over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and often mountainous terrain made it difficult for firefighters.
Shocked residents watching thick plumes of smoke rise over the central west Yerte Valley said the heat was making their green and cool home more like Spain’s semi-arid south.
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“Climate change affects everyone,” said local resident Miguel Angel Tamayo.
A study published in June in the journal Environmental Research: Climate concluded that climate change is very likely to make the heat worse. Read more
More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the nearly week-long heat wave in Portugal and Spain so far. Temperatures in Spain reached 45.7C (114F).
Spain’s weather agency issued temperature warnings for Sunday, with highs of 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) forecast in Aragon, Navarra and La Rioja in the north. It said the heatwave would end on Monday but warned that temperatures would remain “abnormally high”.
Fires were raging in several other regions, including Castile and León in central Spain and Galicia in the north on Sunday afternoon. Firefighters stabilized the blaze in Mijas, Malaga province, and said evacuees could return home.
British pensioners William and Ellen McCurdy had fled for safety with other evacuees to a local sports center from their home on Saturday as the fire approached.
“It was very quick…. I didn’t take it too seriously. I thought they had it under control and I was quite surprised when it appeared to be moving in our direction,” William, 68, told Reuters.
In France, wildfires have already burned 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) in the southwestern Gironde region and more than 14,000 people have been evacuated, regional authorities said Sunday afternoon.
Firefighters work to contain a tactical fire in Luchat as wildfires continue to spread in the Gironde region of southwestern France, July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meissonier
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More than 1,200 firefighters are trying to control the blaze, authorities said in a statement.
France has issued red alerts, the highest possible, for several regions, with residents urged to “be extremely vigilant”.
In Italy, where smaller fires have flared in recent days, forecasters expect temperatures above 40C in several regions in the coming days.
Similar temperatures were recorded in Portugal on Sunday and are forecast for Britain on Monday and Tuesday, which would surpass the previous official record of 38.7C (102F) set in Cambridge in 2019.
Britain’s National Weather Service has issued its first red “extreme heat” warning for parts of England. Rail passengers were advised to travel only if absolutely necessary and to expect mass delays and canceled flights.
DROUGHT IN PORTUGAL
About 1,000 firefighters tried to control 13 forest and rural fires in central and northern Portugal, with the largest near the northern city of Chaves.
Portugal’s health ministry said late Saturday that 659 people had died in the past seven days due to the heat wave, most of them elderly. The weekly peak of 440 deaths was on Thursday, when temperatures exceeded 40C (104F) in several regions and 47C (117F) at a weather station in Viseu county in the center of the country.
By Saturday, there had been 360 heat-related deaths in Spain, according to data from the Carlos III Health Institute.
Portugal was struggling with extreme drought even before the recent heat wave, according to data from the national meteorological institute. About 96% of the continent was already suffering from severe or extreme drought at the end of June.
The commander of the Office of Emergencies and Civil Protection, Andre Fernandez, urged people to be careful not to start new fires in such dry conditions.
In Greece, the fire service reported on Saturday 71 fires that broke out within 24 hours.
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Reporting by Guillermo Martinez, Lily Forudi, Sergio Goncalves, Jessica Jones, Rene Maltezu, John Nazca and Mariano Valladolid Writing by Raisa Kasolowski, Frances Carey and Frank Jack Daniel Editing by Mark Potter, Philippa Fletcher and Gareth Jones
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