authorities in southern Europe fight this Sunday (17) to control the forest fires that burn thousands of hectares in countries like Spain, Greece and France, where people have been evacuated due to high temperatures.
At Spain helicopters threw water on the flames as the scorching heat and often mountainous terrain make it difficult for firefighters to work.
The national meteorological agency AEMET issued high temperature alerts for Sunday, with highs of 42C predicted in Aragon, Navarra and La Rioja in the north. She said the heat wave would end on Monday, but warned that temperatures would remain “abnormally high”.
Spain is experiencing an almost week-long heat wave, with highs of 45.7°C.
In Malaga province, wildfires spread into the night, affecting locals near Mijas, a town popular with tourists from northern Europe.
British retirees William and Ellen McCurdy had to quickly flee their home on Saturday (16). They were taken to a local sports center with other evacuees.
“It was too fast… I didn’t take it too seriously. I thought they had it all under control and I was quite surprised when [o incêndio] seemed to be moving towards us and then we were told to go. So we left a lot of things behind,” William, 68, told Reuters.
“We just grabbed a few essentials and ran, and at this stage, everyone on the street was on the move,” Ellen said.
Mari Carmen Molina, a local councilor in Alhaurin, one of the evacuated towns, said she was concerned that residents’ homes could be destroyed. “It’s terrible. It is a very difficult situation,” she said.
In Portugal, with temperatures dropping over the weekend, only two wildfires were active on Sunday, both in the north, according to officials.
The Ministry of Health of Portugal reported on Saturday that in the past seven days 659 people had died from the heat wave, most of them elderly.
He also said that the weekly peak of 440 deaths was on Thursday (14), when temperatures exceeded 40ºC in several regions and 47ºC at a meteorological station in the district of Vizeu, in the center of the country.
At Greece , the fire brigade said Saturday that 71 fires had started in 24 hours. On Sunday, more than 150 firefighters were fighting a fire that had been burning through forests and farmland since Friday in Rethymno, on the island of Crete.
The flames were fueled by strong winds. Local fire brigade officials said on Sunday they were partially contained.
authorities in southern France said on Sunday they are still battling wildfires that have forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
At the UK the National Weather Service issued its first “extreme heat” red alert for parts of England on Monday and Tuesday, predicting temperatures could reach 40°C, surpassing the previous record of 38.7°C in 2019. .
Source: CNN Brasil

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