Part of western Europe continued to swelter on Saturday under a heat wave that has caused devastating wildfires and which forecasters predict could shatter several temperature records early next week.
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In the south-west of France, the mobilization of firefighters did not weaken on Saturday to fix the fires, particularly in Gironde where nearly 10,000 hectares of forest have gone up in smoke since Tuesday, in a context of generalized heat wave where temperatures could reach 40°C locally, according to Météo France.
In the tourist basin of Arcachon, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, the efforts made have made it possible to slow the progression of the fire. “We are still, and it is a satisfaction, at 3,150 hectares burned, but the fire is still not under control,” a state representative told the press, welcoming “the enormous intensity and mobilization ” firefighters.
Recoveries have taken place in recent hours on the side of nearby beaches.
Further inland, the fire continues to progress in two small towns, with now “more than 7,000 hectares” burned, according to the authorities.
These fires, which mobilize more than a thousand firefighters, have since Tuesday led to the evacuation of more than 12,000 people.
Calm in the Iberian Peninsula
Portugal was experiencing a relative calm, with only one major fire still active on Saturday in the north of the country.
“We plan to contain this fire during the day,” said Civil Protection Commander André Fernandes.
This fire seemed to lose intensity at the start of the afternoon, AFP journalists testified on the spot. If the wooded hill from which white smoke escaped was inaccessible to the firefighters, the action of a fire-fighting helicopter managed at this stage to limit the progression of the flames.
The day before, a water bomber plane which was fighting a forest fire in the region of Guarda (north) crashed, causing the death of the pilot, its sole occupant.
According to a report from the Portuguese civil protection, the fires of the last week have left two dead and around sixty injured. According to these estimates, these fires have ravaged, since the start of the heat wave, between 12,000 and 15,000 hectares of forest and brush.
In Spain, dozens of fires were still raging from north to south of the country. In the region of Extremadura, bordering Portugal, a section of the A5 motorway, linking Madrid to the Portuguese border, could be reopened to traffic after being closed for more than twelve hours due to an inferno.
In the far south, in Andalusia, a fire near Malaga forced the preventive evacuation of more than 3,000 people, according to the Andalusian emergency services.
In Greece, firefighters continued to fight an outbreak that broke out on Friday morning, causing the preventive evacuation of seven villages in a rural area of the prefecture of Rethymno, on the island of Crete.
The Spanish Meteorological Agency kept virtually the whole country under different high temperature alert levels on Saturday, with values above 40°C in many areas and up to 44°C in places.
In Portugal, only the southern Algarve region was not on heat alert. In the rest of the country, the meteorological institute predicts temperatures on Saturday that can reach 42°C in places.
UK red alert
Further north in Europe, in the UK, a crisis committee made up of British government ministers was due to meet on Saturday after the national weather agency issued the first-ever ‘red’ alert for extreme heat , warning of a “risk to life”.
The Met Office said temperatures in southern England could top 40C for the first time on Monday or Tuesday, potentially breaking the record high of 38.7C from 2019.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has advised Londoners to only use public transport on these days if absolutely necessary. Rail companies have also urged passengers to avoid travel.
Some schools in the south of England have told parents they will remain closed from the start of next week.
This heat wave is the second in barely a month in Europe. The multiplication of these phenomena is a direct consequence of global warming according to scientists, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing in intensity, duration and frequency.
