Temperatures are rising in several countries in southern Europe. Rain is not in sight. The situation with fires in Spain is particularly dramatic.
In the forest fire area in Spain, the situation continues to worsen. The fire that has been raging northeast of the capital Madrid since Thursday is spreading very quickly. In the meantime, 26,000 hectares have been burned, the head of the regional government of the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, said.
This is twice as much as on Sunday and roughly corresponds to the area of 36,000 football fields. Also in France, the fire brigade in the south of the country and on the Mediterranean island of Corsica continued to fight several fires. Meanwhile, a new heat wave is expected in the south and south-east of Europe.
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1,200 people evacuated in the forest fire region
García-Page spoke of the worst forest fire in the history of the region around 60 kilometers northeast of Madrid. The wind direction from the southwest, however, did not drive the huge clouds of smoke towards the capital. In the forest fire region, however, around 1,200 people from 30 endangered localities had to be evacuated, as García-Page said. The forces to fight the forest fire, which has a circumference of 120 kilometers, would be strengthened once again.
Above all, the strong wind of around 50 kilometers per hour fanned the flames unstoppably. The fire wall is moving forward at a speed of four kilometers per hour, reported the state TV channel RTVE.
Since there was a lot of rain in Spain last winter and spring, the growth of grasses, shrubs and undergrowth was strongly favored. This combustible biomass is now dried up by the heat of the summer like tinder in the forests. Another expected heat wave from Tuesday with temperatures around 40 degrees threatens to further aggravate the situation.
Hundreds of emergency forces were busy on the ground, using heavy equipment to build firebreaks and contain the flames. They are supported, among other things, by the Military Emergency Unit. In addition, according to media reports, around 45 firefighting aircraft and helicopters are in use. So far, it has been possible to prevent the flames from spreading to localities, the authorities announced.
The situation in France
In the mountainous hinterland of Saint-Tropez in France, 360 soldiers were still on duty against a vegetation fire that broke out on Sunday, which destroyed four houses and 15 cars, as the newspaper Var Matin reported. The fire brigade was also able to prevent the flames from spreading to around 100 other houses with the use of firefighting aircraft. Rail traffic in the region was interrupted. On Sunday evening, a TGV train coming from Nice with 800 passengers stranded at the station of the small town of Les Arcs, because it was impossible to continue.
For 27 departments in France, the state weather service Météo France warned of an increased risk of forest fires. As Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told the broadcaster France Inter, almost 40,000 hectares of natural areas have already been destroyed by fires since the beginning of the year, significantly more than in the same period last year or in the year 2022, which is particularly characterized by fires. 111 people have been arrested nationwide on suspicion of arson, most of whom have admitted to the charges.
Heat in Greece
The weather is also an issue in another popular travel destination: Greece is experiencing the first major heatwave of the summer. After a relatively mild season so far, the temperatures have been rising since the beginning of the week in large parts of the country to 40 to 41 degrees, locally even up to 42 or 43 degrees are expected in the interior of the country.
The heat from the north should gradually subside only from Thursday, while it will last a little longer in the south of the country, as the meteorological office EMY announced. According to forecasts, the Greek mainland is particularly affected. Most of the islands will have more pleasant temperatures of 35 to 37 degrees.
Several Greek cities have opened air-conditioned halls and public spaces between 9:00 and 21:00 as a precautionary measure. Especially people who do not have air conditioning at home can stay there.
Source: Tageblatt
