Thousands of people in Portugal, Spain, France, and Morocco have been evacuated by firefighters bringing in temperatures above 45 C (113F) during the week.
One person has died and at least 135 people have been seriously injured since the blaze broke out Portugal last week. The “emergency” has been in effect since Sunday and about 800 people have been displaced, according to the country’s Civil Protection Authority.
As of Thursday, Portugal had 28 active fires, with more than 2,000 firefighters on the ground.
The Portuguese Institute of Maritime and Climate (UI) on Wednesday reached an unprecedented temperature of 13 regions, with a temperature of 46.3C in central Luca.
“This is not a very common situation, and it is serious in all respects,” IPMA meteorologist Patricia Gómez told the Portuguese press.
Five years later, wildfires killed 66 people, injured hundreds, and destroyed 30,000 hectares of forest in Pedrogao Grande Central Municipality.
During a visit to Lisbon firefighters on Thursday, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Susa said there had been significant improvements in fire protection in recent years.
Hundreds of more people have been displaced from their homes in the southwest France When a wildfire went out of control on Friday.
Since Tuesday, more than 1,000 firefighters, backed by nine water jets, have been battling heat, canning conditions and two fires.
Officials at the Gironde department said the situation was “bad” and that the fire was still burning.
One of the two Gironde fires was around the town of Landiras, south of Bordeaux, which burned 4,200 hectares, closed roads, and displaced nearly 1,000 residents.
Another fire that burned 3,100 acres[3,100 ha]of land was near Arune du Pilat, the tallest sand in Europe, near the Atlantic Ocean. Sky.
About 6,000 people were displaced from local camps on Wednesday, and another 4,000 early Thursday.
Temperature records are equal or broken in many parts SpainFor the first time on Thursday, it struck a 44.1C mark in the northwestern town of Orence. Temperatures reached 45C on Thursday as firefighters battled a wildfire that engulfed more than 4,000 hectares of land.
Captano Torres, a spokesman for the Spanish Meteorological Bureau, said the heat wave – Spain’s second summer – is expected to end on Monday, but may not be the end of the year.
In 2021, there were two heat waves, three in 2020 and 2019, one in 2018, five in 2017 and four in 2016.
“We can’t come to a convincing conclusion, but the weather forecast shows that in the summer, high temperatures start earlier and get stronger,” Torres said. There is also a slight tendency for long-term heat waves.
He also said that global warming is causing climate change and changing the geography of some parts of Spain.
“We know something is changing,” he said. “This is a clear trend and it is causing desertification. Almeria is an extension of the Sahara Desert, and you can say that it is moving southeast.
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Morocco Firefighters, soldiers, police officers and civil defense personnel have been battling at least four forest fires in the north of the country.
As of Wednesday night, at least 1,000 hectares of forest had been burned in Larashe and Ouzan, according to initial reports.
The country, which is suffering from a severe drought, has recently been hit by temperatures approaching 45 degrees Celsius.
Most of the heat is absorbed. China It affected more than 900 million people this week. The effects of high temperatures have made local news, with officials warning the elderly of the dangers of such conditions.
Shanghai, the country’s largest population, issued its third major alert this summer. Because high temperatures often break records. Temperatures rose to 40.6C on Thursday afternoon, but dropped to 40.9C on Wednesday afternoon, similar to the 2017 record.
On Thursday, the city issued three red alarms in a short period of five days. Meteorologists warn that these warnings are relatively rare, with only 17 of them being recorded in 1873.
The roofs of the Museum of Ancient Chinese Heritage in Chongqing, Southwest China, have melted due to hot weather. The museum is now closed for maintenance, he said in a statement earlier this week.
Chongqing is one of the most popular “three ovens” in China. The other two residents of Nanjing and Wuhan have also been battling the heat this week. Nanjing authorities have opened ground for air raids to allow people to escape the heat. In Wuhan, residents shared tips on how to survive moisture and ultraviolet radiation on social media.
Reuters, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
