Wildfires raged in parts of France and Spain on Saturday due to a scorching heatwave across Europe. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate as blistering temperatures put authorities on alert in many parts of Europe.
By Saturday afternoon, nearly 14,000 people had been evacuated from France’s Gironde region in the Southwest, as over 1,200 firefighters fought to bring the flames under control, regional authorities said in a statement. More than 10,000 hectares of land was on fire, up from 7,300 hectares the previous day.
“We have a fire that will continue to spread as long as it is not stabilised,” Vincent Ferrier, deputy prefect for Langon in Gironde, reported at a press conference.
In the latest weather warning, 38 of France’s 96 departments were listed on “orange” alert, with residents of those areas urged to be alert. The heatwave in western France is expected to peak on Monday, with temperatures ascending above 40 degrees Celsius.
Wildfires have not only affected France but also other European countries including Portugal and Spain. In neighbouring Spain, firefighters were battling a series of blazes on Saturday after days of unusually high temperatures that reached up to 45.7 degrees Celsius.
More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from homes due to a large wildfire near Mijas, a town in the province of Malaga that is popular with northern European tourists, the region’s emergency services said in a tweet early on Saturday. Many were taken to shelter in a provincial sports centre.
“The police drove up and down the road with their sirens on and everyone was told to leave. Just leave. No instructions where to go,” said British pensioner John Pretty, 83.
A total of 39,550 hectares of land has been ravaged by wildfires from the start of the year until mid-June, data from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests showed. An area equivalent to almost two-thirds of that has burned during fires in the last week.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s Health Ministry said 238 people died as a result of the heatwave in the second week of July, most being elders with underlying conditions.
In Britain, the national weather forecaster has issued its first red “extreme heat” warning for parts of England on Monday and Tuesday. With possibly record-breaking temperatures expected, the government’s emergency response committee was due to meet later on Saturday.
The highest recorded temperature in Britain was 38.7 degrees Celsius, which was recorded in Cambridge on July 25, 2019.
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