PARIS/ROM/ATHEN/MADRID (dpa-AFX) – People in large parts of southern Europe will have to wait in vain for a recovery from the heat and drought at the weekend. Because the wind is blowing hard and it has been dry in many places for a long time, an end to the forest fires is not yet in sight. The state of emergency is still in force in Portugal, and France has now obtained support from abroad to extinguish the fire.
For a week now, numerous forest fires have had Portugal under control. Up to and including Sunday, the third highest state of emergency applies to the entire mainland of Portugal. According to the ICNF, the blaze destroyed more than 25,000 hectares in just one week. The area destroyed by forest fires so far this year has increased to 38,600 hectares – 35 percent more than in the whole of the previous year (28,415 hectares).
In France, too, significantly more land has burned since the beginning of the year than at the same time last year. The Interior Ministry said that 13,000 hectares had fallen victim to the flames. In 2021 it was only 500 hectares by mid-July. More than half of the burned area is due to two forest fires south of Bordeaux that firefighters have been trying to bring under control since Tuesday. Even if only a few houses were hit by the fire, almost 12,000 people had to leave their homes or holiday resorts as a precaution. And there is also a major forest fire in the Rhone Valley.
Support for the south of France, suffering from strong winds and drought, is now coming from other Mediterranean countries. Greece made two fire-fighting aircraft available, and Italy agreed to borrow two machines if necessary.
In Spain, 18 major forest fires were still active across the country on Friday. The worst raged in the municipality of Las Hurdes in the province of Cáceres, near the border with Portugal. The flames probably destroyed at least 3,500 hectares of land there. In a forest fire in the tourist hotspot Costa del Sol, around 2,300 people had to be brought to safety as a precaution. Plumes of smoke also reached some beaches. Málaga and nearby well-known beach resorts such as Marbella, Fuengirola, Torremolinos and Benalmádena were reportedly unaffected as strong winds drove large walls of flames away from the southern Spanish coast.
It is precisely the wind in Greece at the moment that is fueling the fires and enormously hampering the extinguishing work. Stormy winds are expected again on Saturday. The Greek fire brigade has declared the second highest forest fire level for many areas.
However, the situation in Greece is far from being as bad as it was last summer. For one thing, it’s not as hot as in Spain and Portugal, for example, where temperatures rose to 45 and 47 degrees respectively. Highs of 38 degrees are expected for the weekend, which is not excessive heat for Greece. On the other hand, it had rained heavily in large parts of the country last weekend, so that the risk of fire in many places has so far remained low.
However, large parts of Italy are still hoping for rain. After fires flared up again in the north of Lake Garda, which is popular with German tourists, the authorities continue to monitor the area. In the Nago-Torbole commune, winds fanned the fires again. The authorities could not rule out further fires in the coming days due to the drought.
Across the country, there is an increased risk of forest fires in many areas due to the drought, such as in Sicily and Sardinia or in South Tyrol. According to the statistical authority, the drought phases have increased significantly in recent years compared to the previous decades. And the hot temperatures continue. The Ministry of Health issued the highest warning level for heat waves in Florence and Perugia on Sunday. The experts advise people there to avoid busy areas, not to exercise outside at the hottest time of the day and not to drink cold or alcoholic beverages.
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), the 40-degree mark can also be exceeded locally during the heatwave expected for next week. As the ten-day forecast from Saturday shows, heating up to 30 to 36 degrees is to be expected on Tuesday in particular – up to 39 degrees will be reached in the southwest and west. The reason for the forthcoming midsummer weather is Hoch “Jürgen”, which is moving south-east from the British Isles and is settling over Germany./rbo/DP/zb