fires “never seen” in France and up to 40 degrees in the United Kingdom

Active fires in Spain have already claimed two lives in Losacio (Zamora) and have destroyed at least 25,000 hectares, favored by high temperatures, up to 40 degrees, and the wind.

A similar situation is suffering France, where the flames have forced the evacuation of 32,300 people. Despite the work of some 1,200 firefighters and nine specialized planes, “the night will be difficult” due to the increased wind, he announced in statements to the press. Fabian Buccioprefect (government delegate) in the Gironde department, in which he stressed that they face “a complicated situation”.

“It never ends” assures the newspaper Guardian David Brunner, one of 1,500 firefighters fighting to control the fire that has broken out in France’s Gironde region. The flames originated last Tuesday and have already destroyed 14,000 hectares of forest near Dune du Pilat. “In 30 years working as a firefighter I had not seen anything like it in my life”.

Disbelief also reigns among the evacuees in France. Theo Dayana 26-year-old man, and one of the more than 32,000 evacuated by the fire, assured the newspaper Le Monde: “We are refugees from climate change”. Jean-Luc Gleyzehead of the local fire service in the French town of La Teste-de-Buch, maintains that “we are not being able to deal with climate change or stop it. Quite the contrary, it is hitting us directly in the face.”

The good news is the arrival tomorrow of a storm front that will unload between the Pyrenees and the Belgian border, with which the heat will be cornered in southeastern France.

40 degrees in the UK

In the United Kingdom they are not experiencing fires, but high temperatures have forced the closure of Luton airport, located north of London. “Following today’s high temperatures, a runway surface defect has been identified,” the airport said in a statement.

The United Kingdom Meteorological Office (Met, in English) placed England on Monday on red alert due to the heat wave and warned that temperatures can exceed 40 degrees Celsius, which will be a record for this country.

The red alert, the first time the Met has been forced to issue it, will also remain on Tuesday, while the rest of the UK territory remains on amber alert – one less than red – due to high temperatures.

Until now, the highest temperatures in the United Kingdom had been recorded in Cambridge in 2019, when the thermometer marked 38.7 degrees Celsius.

The British authorities have warned that London has become the hottest city in the country on Monday. This “exceptional” heat wave can have an impact “on people and infrastructure”indicated the Met.

The authorities have asked the population to maintain a high level of hydration, to close the curtains at home and not expose themselves to the sun in the middle of the day, and also to avoid traveling unless it is absolutely essential.

Italy and rest of Europe

Italy is also suffering, with temperatures as high as 42 degrees in the day and 30 at night in the center and north of the country – in Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and the Padana Plain – combined with the worst drought in the last 70 years.

Italian meteorologists already warn that the one that just started will be “the hottest week of 2022” due to the African anticyclone significantly baptized as “Apocalypse4800”, with record temperatures even in alpine massifs such as Mont Blanc, where an unprecedented maximum of 10 degrees is expected.

The rise in temperatures in the glaciers can cause catastrophes such as the recent Marmolada landslide in the Dolomites, which caused 11 deaths. This Sunday a new event of this type was recorded in the area, although this time without victims.

A similar situation is experienced in Austria with mercury at 37 degrees in its non-alpine eastern part, and where the water of Lake Neusiedler, bordering Hungary and very popular for local sailing sports, is at its lowest point since records began in 1965, although it has not reached completely dry up as it did in 1865. According to weather forecasts, the heat wave may move in the next few days towards Germany and even south of the Scandinavian countries if certain conditions are met.

In Montenegrina fire has been raging since Sunday in the town of Kabao, near the Adriatic city of Herceg Novi, while in Switzerland the heat alert affects the west, the French-speaking part of the country, especially the cantons of Geneva, Valais and Basel, with temperatures up to 39 degrees.

In Netherlandsthe alert is yellow due to tropical heat with temperatures of up to 35 degrees in the center and the south and this Tuesday it will be orange, with thermometers that could exceed 39 degrees, which has led to the application of the National Heat Plan and even to the delay of the popular Nijmegen Four Day March.

This Monday Dublin reached a temperature of 33 degrees Celsius, the highest recorded in the city since these data are taken, according to the Meteorological Office (Met Éireann).

In the eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus is on yellow alert with temperatures up to 39 degrees inside that are expected to last until at least Thursday, while Greece registers hot but normal values ​​for the time, although the environment encourages forest fires every day: today in the Achaia region, in the south, and on the island of Euboea, where last year several fires destroyed a quarter of its surface.

Situation in Spain

In Spain, the intense, long-lasting and extensive heat wave (with maximums between 39 and 45 degrees in almost the entire peninsula), has been able to cause 510 deaths attributable to extremely high temperatures, according to estimates by the Carlos III Health Institute dependent on the Ministry Spanish for Health.

In addition, active fires have already claimed two lives and have destroyed thousands of hectares, favored by high temperatures and wind.

The fires of Castilla y León, Catalonia and Galicia continue to worry, while in Extremadura, one of the most affected by the heat wave, the situation has improved notably; In Andalusia, the fire in the Sierra de Mijas has been considered stabilized.