Fires and record temperatures: the hottest week in Europe

France, Portugal, Spain and the whole Mediterranean. There are huge fires in Southern European countries, the whole Mediterranean burns. The extreme heat and the lack of rain lead to the spread of the flames which are, as always, powered by the wind. In recent months 346,000 hectares of forests have been burned, a larger area than the Aosta Valley. Compared to the average of the last 16 years in the same period, the first six months of the year, it is triple. The data comes fromEuropean Forest Fire Information System of the European Commission.

More than 14,000 people have been displaced from their homes in South West of France. The affected region is that of the Gironde. More than 10,500 hectares of forest were burned here. On Thursday a fire broke out in the lower Rhone valley, south of Avignon. Orange alert in 38 of the 101 French departments for heat waves, yellow alert in the others.

In the vicinity of Rum raisin More than 3,000 people have fled their homes. Fires also in the provinces of Castilla y León and Galicia. Flames threaten Monfrague National Park in Extremadura. In Spain, peaks of 45-46 degrees were recorded in the south of the country. Hundreds of people have died in Spain and Portugal from the heat: at least they are 360according to what he writes The Vanguard, citing the Carlos III Health Institute in the Iberian country. Burns also in Greece and Croatia. The situation in Portugal has been extremely difficult in recent days. Between 7 and 13 July, in the Lusitanian country there were 238 more deaths than the same period in previous years. In Italy, from January 1st to July 16th, 22,930 hectares were burned.

2022 is among the hottest years on the planetwith surface temperature 0.85 degrees higher than the twentieth century average according to data from National Centers for Environmental Information. In Italy, the first half of 2022 is classified as the hottest year ever, with a temperature 0.76 degrees higher than the historical average due to the scorching heat but also the lack of rainfall: 45% less than the annual average.

In the United Kingdom a national emergency was proclaimed. Temperatures could exceed 40 degrees. In Portugal the maximum temperature recorded in the current year is 47 degrees in Alijò. From Wednesday in Italy a new intensification of the heat wave is expected, with temperatures that will increase everywhere reaching peaks around 40 degrees.

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