In the UK, an emergency cabinet meeting was called on Saturday to discuss Britain’s first ‘Extreme Red’ heatwave warning. In France, a lawmaker described the stormy weather as “hell”. In Portugal, the Prime Minister is monitoring the dangerous forest fires. With temperatures in Western Europe set to soar past 40C next week, Southern Europe is already battling the effects of more intense summer heat, which scientists say is a result of the world’s changing climate. Across the Mediterranean, firefighters have struggled to contain the flames, rivers have dried up and thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. So far, more than 230 people have died from heat-related effects in Spain and 238 in Portugal, according to local media. The temperatures – the result of a slow-moving area of high pressure, bringing hot air from North Africa – are expected to continue this week and move north and east towards France, Germany, Belgium and the UK Here are five countries feeling the effects of the heatwave in Europe.
Portugal
Fires have been burning in several areas since last week, with nearly 250 new fires reported on Friday and Saturday, most northeast of Porto. Lousã in central Portugal scored a record 46.3 points on Wednesday. The government has declared a red alert in 16 of the mainland’s 18 regions with more than a hundred municipalities at maximum risk of wildfires in rural areas. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa canceled a planned state visit to Mozambique in order to stay and monitor the fires. “We are facing an almost unprecedented situation from a meteorological point of view,” Andre Fernandez, the national commander of civil protection, said on Saturday.
Spain
A helicopter drops water on a raging fire in Spain’s Sierra de Mijas mountain range | Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images Almost half of the forested Sierra de la Culebra, a mountain range in northwestern Spain, has burned — making it the largest fire on record in Spanish history, with areas in Figueruela de Arriba still burning. Near the Costa del Sol in southern Spain, a popular tourist destination, about 2,300 people were forced to flee as the fire spread through the Sierra de Mijas mountain range. Adding to the heat, a lack of rainfall means Spain’s reservoirs were at 44.4% of their full capacity this Wednesday — up from an average of 65.7% over this period over the past decade, authorities said.
Italy
Italy’s Pa River hits record lows after months without heavy rain | Marco Sabadin/AFP via Getty Images The Paos River, Italy’s largest, has reached record low levels after months without heavy rainfall. Stretching from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea, the vital water source is used for drinking, irrigation and hydropower. In the Piedmont region of northern Italy, more than 170 municipalities have issued or plan to issue water consumption ordinances, meaning a ban on all uses other than food, domestic use and healthcare. Anyone caught using water to irrigate public or private gardens, wash yards or cars can be fined up to €500. Italy’s floundering government has declared a state of emergency in much of the north. On Saturday, Bishop Enrico Solmi held a service on the banks of the river for the families who were personally affected. The procession ended with the blessing of the waters and a prayer for rain, which has not been seen for over 200 days.
France
Evacuation centers set up to help 1,000 people forced to flee forest fires in southwest France | Gaizka Iroz/AFP via Getty Images In France, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated from areas in the southwest of the country as fires rage in the Gironde department. According to local media, three major fires are still active and more than 5,000 hectares of land have burned. On Saturday, the weather service extended the orange heat warning to 38 departments, from Brittany to the Côte d’Azur. Green French MP Melanie Vogel tweeted the ground surface temperature was measured at 59 degrees in Spain and 48 degrees in southern France. “It’s not just summer,” she wrote. “It’s just hell and pretty soon it’s just going to be the end of human life if we continue with our climate inaction.”
United Kingdom
Government officials in Britain have warned that the country should brace for the hottest days on record on Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures reaching a record 40 degrees. The Met Office has issued its first red alert for extreme heat, meaning healthy people, not just the vulnerable, could be vulnerable to illness and death. An emergency cabinet meeting – the second on the issue – is being held on Saturday to discuss the heat wave. Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge urged people with vulnerable relatives or neighbors to “make sure they take the appropriate measures… because if the forecast is as we think it will be in the red warning area, then people’s lives are at risk”. Several actions have been proposed by the government, including rail speed restrictions on some parts of the network to limit damage and school closures in the south of the country.
