The heat that plagues Europe is having increasingly far-reaching consequences over large parts of the continent. In Spain and Portugal, authorities announced on Saturday that hundreds of residents had died in a week and a half. It concerns 360 heat-related deaths in Spain and 238 in Portugal; predominantly elderly with underlying ailments.
The United Kingdom, like the Netherlands, expects the highest temperatures at the beginning of next week. The British government issued a ‘red’ heat alert for the first time in its history after an emergency meeting on Saturday; the country expects temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius for Monday and Tuesday. Well above the heat record set in 2019 of 38.7 degrees.
The UK’s national weather service warned on Saturday that expected temperatures pose a risk of illness and death even for healthy residents, the AP news agency said. The government also expects significant delays in public transport, partly because the heat affects the rails, and advises the British to work from home if possible.
Also read: Sea of flames engulfs French villas
Southwest France
Peak temperatures of above 40 degrees are also expected in France at the beginning of next week. In the southwestern French region of Gironde, the number of evacuees fleeing wildfires has risen to about 14,000. The flames have now destroyed about ten thousand hectares of nature reserve in that region.
Further south, temperatures have risen even higher in recent days. Spain recorded more than 45 degrees Celsius in places on Saturday. And there too, the heat causes extreme drought, which then leads to fires. A wildfire is raging near tourist attraction Mijas, forcing 3,000 residents and tourists to evacuate.
In Portugal, where temperatures seem to be declining slightly after record highs, fires have destroyed some 25,000 hectares of nature reserve. On Friday evening, the pilot of a plane in the northeast of that country was killed when he crashed while putting out the fire.
Images of fires – and the fire brigade trying to put them out – in Spain and France: