Extreme heat and strong winds have caused wildfires across Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Greece as temperatures soar above 40C.
A man died in a blaze outside Madrid, suffering burns on 98 per cent of his body. The fire was largely contained outside Spain’s capital by firefighters on Monday night.
Elsewhere, firefighters and nearly a thousand soldiers battled fires across Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia and Galicia. Thousands of people have evacuated homes and hotels, including holiday-goers at beaches in southern Spain.
Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones, chief of environment for the regional government in Castile and Leon said: “This occurs when temperatures reach around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in a very confined valley and then suddenly (the fire) enters a more open and oxygenated area. This produces a fireball, a fire whirl.”
"This explosive and surprising phenomenon was very dangerous. It disrupted all the work that had been done, forcing us to start practically from scratch," he added.
In the northern part of neighbouring Portugal, nearly 700 firefighters were battling a blaze that started on Saturday in Trancoso, some 350 km (200 miles) northeast of Lisbon.
Turkey has finally been able to bring wildfires in the north west under control, forestry minister Ibrahim Yumakli said, the day after a fire broke out in an agricultural field in the province of Canakkale, north west Turkey, and spread into surrounding forestland, just two days after firefighting teams had contained a similar blaze in the area.
Canakkale governor Omer Toraman said the Dardanelles Strait — the narrow waterway linking the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara — was closed to allow water-dropping planes and helicopters to operate safely in the area.
Some 2,000 residents were evacuated - some by sea - and 77 people were hospitalised due to smoke exposure, officials said.
Firefighters were still battling two other wildfires in Manisa and Izmir provinces in western Turkey, said Mr Yumakli said on social media.
Meanwhile, across the Aegean sea, authorities ordered multiple evacuations in Greece due to wildfires on the island of Zakynthos and in nearby areas on the western Greek mainland,
Water-dropping planes and helicopters were operating in the Agala area in the southwest of Zakynthos, and evacuations affected a nearby coastal area popular with tourists. Zakynthos Mayor Giorgos Stasinopoulos appealed to the government to send additional aerial support.
Rare red alerts in place across France and Spain
France and Spain have issued red weather warnings as temperatures are set to soar in Europe again this week.
As the UK braces for its fourth heatwave with 32C heat expected in the capital, Spain’s meteorological service Aemet has forecast peaks of 44C heat in Seville as the country swelters. Meanwhile, France could see highs of 39C across Lyon and Montelimar.
Met Office spokesperson, Stephen Dixon, said: “A heatwave over northwest Africa and Iberia will spread further northeast, bringing temperatures well above average for Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium and other parts of Europe. This will spread northeast over the next 4-5 days, reaching places like France and Germany later in the week.
“For Spain and Portugal, temperatures into the 40s Celsius are possible inland by day, with overnight temperatures remaining above 20C in many locations. High pressure, as well as day-on-day heating at the time of year with little in the way of cloud, is allowing temperatures to rise to well above average for these locations, even for the time of year.
“There’s a chance of some health impacts with the heat, especially for those who aren’t acclimatised or are outside during the hottest parts of the day.”
A four-year-old Romanian boy who was found unconscious in his family’s car on the island of Sardinia has died in Italy, reportedly due to heatstroke, the local media reported. The hospital authorities told AFP on Monday that the boy was airlifted to a Rome facility but died due to irreversible brain damage.
Spain’s red weather warnings denote “significant risk”, with vast swathes of the north and west of the country put under a red heat health alert, the highest level.
The red warning states that “exposure to excessive temperatures can lead to health problems such as “cramps, dehydration, heat stroke, and heat exhaustion (with multi-organ problems that can include symptoms such as gait instability, seizures, and even coma)”, adding that during hot weather older people and children were more sensitive to temperature changes.
Meanwhile, Italy’s health ministry has also issued a red alert warning for seven major cities, including Bologna and Florence.
France’s red warning is for the south west of the country, with citizens told to remain “absolutely vigilant” as “everyone is at risk, even healthy people” during a heatwave, according to Meteo France, the country’s meteorological service.
“Rising temperatures can endanger people at risk, such as the elderly, the disabled, those with chronic illnesses or mental disorders, those who regularly take medication, and those who live in isolation”, the service warned in a statement. “For athletes and people who work outdoors, beware of heatstroke. Also watch over the children.”
The heat warnings are expected to stretch into parts of east France on Tuesday, with Ardeche and Rhone experiencing red heat alerts as well, while the majority of the country remains under lower-level orange alerts.
Agricultural climatologist Serge Zaka told BFMTV : “Don't be fooled — this isn't 'normal, it's summer.' It's not normal, it's a nightmare,” as the region is set to experience blistering heat.
Europe is warming faster than any other continent, at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Last year was the hottest year on record in Europe and globally, the monitoring agency said.
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