LISBON —
Southwest Europe endured a sixth day of a summer
heat wave on Saturday that has triggered devastating forest fires as parts of
the continent braced for new temperature records early next week.
اضافة اعلان
Firefighters in France, Portugal, Spain, and Greece
battled forest blazes that have ravaged thousands of hectares of land and
killed several personnel since the start of the week.
It is the second heat wave engulfing parts of
southwest Europe in weeks as scientists blame climate change and predict more
frequent and intense episodes of extreme weather.
Firefighters in the coastal town of Arcachon in
France’s southwestern Gironde region were fighting to control two forest blazes
that have devoured more than 10,000 hectares since Tuesday.
“It’s a Herculean job,” said Lieutenant-Colonel
Olivier Chavatte from the fire and rescue service, which has 1,200 firefighters
and five planes in action.
Further evacuation orders were given on Saturday for
a few hundred residents, firefighter spokesman Arnaud Mendousse told AFP.
Since Tuesday, more than 12,000 people in total —
residents and tourists combined — have been forced to decamp with five
emergency shelters set up in order to receive evacuees.
Meteo France forecast temperatures of up to 40
degrees Celsius in the south of France on Saturday, with new heat records
expected on Monday.
‘Extreme vigilance’
Authorities in the French
Alps urged climbers bound for Mont Blanc,
Europe’s highest mountain, to
postpone their trip due to repeated rock falls caused by “exceptional climatic
conditions” and “drought”.
The call comes after a section of Italy’s biggest
Alpine glacier gave way at the start of the month, killing 11 people, in a
disaster officials blamed on climate change.
In Portugal, the meteorological institute forecast temperatures
of up to 42 degrees Celsius with no respite before next week.
The civil defense, however, took advantage of a
slight drop in temperatures after a July record of 47 degrees Celsius on
Thursday to try to stamp out one remaining major fire in Portugal’s north.
“The risk of fires remains very high,” civil defense
chief
Andre Fernandes warned.
“This is a weekend of extreme vigilance,” he added
after a week which saw two people killed and more than 60 injured, and up to
15,000 hectares of forest and brushwood incinerated.
In Spain, the national meteorological agency
maintained various levels of alert across the nation, warning of up to 44
degrees Celsius in some regions.
Dozens of forest fires were raging Saturday in
different parts of the country from the sweltering south to Galicia in the far
northwest, which saw blazes lay waste to some 3,500 hectares, the regional
government said.
‘So sad’
“So sad to see part of our
natural heritage ablaze,” tweeted Spain’s Economy Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister Nadia Calvino.
One blaze in the south caused the authorities to
cordon off for more than 12 hours a section of a key highway connecting Madrid
to the Portuguese capital Lisbon, before the road reopened.
The fires have scorched thousands of hectares in the
Spanish region of Extremadura, while one near the southern city of
Malaga forced the preventive evacuation of more than 3,000 people, rescue services
said.
In Greece, the civil defense rushed to douse flames
raging on the Mediterranean island of Crete, while Morocco was battling a
deadly forest fire in its northern mountains.
In the UK, government ministers were to hold crisis
talks after the state meteorological agency issued a first-ever “red” warning
for extreme heat, cautioning there is a “risk to life”.
The Met Office said in southern England temperatures
could exceed 40 degrees Celsius on Monday or Tuesday for the first time,
leading some schools to say they will stay closed next week.
Mayor Sadiq Khan advised Londoners to use public transport
only if “absolutely necessary”. National train operators also warned passengers
to avoid travel.
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