Wildfires, power cuts plague Europe amid record heatwave
Hundreds of firefighters battled yesterday to contain wildfires in southern France as a stifling heatwave brought record-breaking temperatures to parts of Europe, killing at least three people in Italy.
In the Gard region, where France’s highest temperature on record was registered on Friday at 45.9 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit), scores of fires burned some 600 hectares (about 1,500 acres) of land and destroyed several houses and vehicles, emergency services said.
More than 700 firefighters and 10 aircraft were mobilised to tackle the fires in the Gard, some of which caused sections of motorways to be temporarily closed. Several firefighters were hurt but no serious injuries were reported.
The extreme heat was expected to ease on Saturday in southern France but highs were still forecast at close to 40 degrees.
The World Meteorological Organization said this week that 2019 was on track to be among the world’s hottest years, and 2015-2019 would then be the hottest five-year period on record.
It said the European heatwave was “absolutely consistent” with extremes linked to the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.
Britain was predicted to see its hottest day of the year so far yesterday, with temperatures expected to reach up to 35 degrees, according to the Met Office.
For a fourth consecutive day, unusually high temperatures above 43 degrees were forecast on Saturday across Spain.
Forty of the Spain’s 50 regions have been placed under weather alert, with seven of them considered to be at extreme risk, the national meteorological agency said.
Comments