Heatwave: Large fires in Portugal, Spain and France

More than 20 forest fires rage at Portugal and many more are threatening villages in western Spain and disrupting tourist holidays, amid a heatwave which according to meteorologists will push the mercury above them 40 degrees Celsius.

At Franceabout 800 firefighters, with the help of six aircraft, are fighting two fires in the southwest, because of which many campsites where thousands of tourists were vacationing were evacuated, as reported by the Gironde regional governor, Fabien Bussiot.

In the Algarve Portugal, a province popular with tourists, authorities blocked access to the luxury resort of Quinta do Lago and a golf course due to thick smoke blanketing the area. “The fire is entering an urban zone, with a lot of dry vegetation (…) We are worried and that is what we are telling the world,” said Richard Marques, a civil protection worker.

In the area of ​​Leiria, at north of Lisbonwhere the thermometer was showing today 45 degrees Celsius, authorities blocked a major highway. Flames and thick smoke are rising from both sides of the road, while helicopters and aircraft are constantly dropping water.

Residents of the surrounding villages who did not abandon them, poured water on the roofs of their houses.

Almost 800 firefighters are involved in the battle to extinguish two fires in the Leiria area. Across mainland Portugal, 2,124 firefighters and 28 aircraft have been mobilized to tackle 24 forest fires. Almost the entire country has been put on “red alert” due to the heat. In Santarem and Leiria the temperature reached 45 degrees, according to the weather service IPMA. The absolute record for Portugal is 47.3 degrees Celsius recorded in 2003.

Campsites were evacuated

In the Gironde of France they have been burned until now at least 27,000 acres of forest, said the regional governor speaking to the television station BFM TV. The larger of the two fires is the one approaching the town of Landiras, south of Bordeaux. The surrounding roads were blocked and 500 residents were evacuated.

The second fire is burning along the Atlantic coast, near the iconic “Dune of Pila”, the highest sand dune in Europe. Clouds of black smoke rise into the sky over the Arcachon Bay area.

As a precaution, 6,000 people were evacuated from five campsites in the area and taken to a local exhibition centre. “Other campers woke us up around 4.30 in the morning. We had to leave immediately and decide quickly what to take with us,” Christel, a tourist, told BFM TV.

On the eve of Bastille Day, France’s national holiday, the Gironde region banned fireworks until Monday in towns and villages near forests.

The World Meteorological Organization warned on Tuesday that the heat wave is spreading and intensifying over large parts of western Europe. Due to climate change and drought, forest fires are expected to increase by 30% in the next 28 years, according to a United Nations report. Very hot temperatures were also recorded today in China’s Yangtze River Basin; firefighters battled a forest fire near the Turkish resort of Datsa; Texas power demand broke all records as consumers turned on their air conditioners for to cool down.

In Spain’s Extremadura, on the border with Portugal, firefighters evacuated several hundred residents as a precaution as they continue to battle a fire that swept through the province of Salamanca on Tuesday. Large parts of Extremadura, Andalusia and Galicia have been put on red alert due to the heat. The weather service AEMET predicts that the temperature will surpass the previous record of 47.4 degrees Celsius recorded in August 2021.

RES-EMP

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