The heat wave continues in Europe with temperature records still broken. Firefighters are not ready to pack up: forest fires are now spreading to the east of the continent.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
New record in Denmark
The heat wave does not spare Scandinavia. Denmark on Wednesday recorded a record temperature for the month of July with 35.9 ° C on the island of Lolland. The old record for July stood at 35.3°C in 1941, according to the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). The state recorded its all-time high in August 1975 with a value of 36.4°C. “A new Danish temperature record is within reach,” the DMI said in a statement on Wednesday. Much of southern Sweden is put on alert by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, as temperatures of up to 35C are forecast.
37,000 people evacuated in France
The extent of burned forest now stands at 20,800 hectares in Gironde in southwestern France. Nearly 37,000 people have been evacuated due to the flames that have ravaged the region since July 12. Thousands of firefighters are still trying to control the fires in the towns of Test-de-Buch and Landiras. Residents of at-risk areas are asking the government for more support when they stick only to “the solidarity of each other” for housing and food, testifies Morgane Grégoire, resident of Bordeaux and originally from Landiras, by email to The Press. President Emmanuel Macron visited the Gironde on Wednesday to pay tribute to those mobilized and honor the memory of the deceased. It provides for “a major national project” to revegetate the razed forest. The president also promised, during his visit, the purchase of additional planes to fight the fires.
Over 40 ohC in Spain
In Spain, the authorities estimate that more than 500 deaths are linked to the heat wave which has hit the country for ten days already. The heat wave caused major fires that razed tens of thousands of hectares of vegetation. The mercury soared above 40°C in several parts of Spain, notably in the regions of Andalusia, Extremadura and Galicia. The majority of Spanish territory is still under extreme heat risk alert. The temperature could still rise to 41 ° C Thursday in ten of these regions, provides Aemet, the Spanish Meteorological Agency.
Outcry in the UK
The United Kingdom recorded a historic temperature record on Tuesday when the mercury rose to 40.3 ° C in Coningsby, a village in the northeast of England. On Wednesday, environmental activists blocked the M25 motorway on the outskirts of London for 7 hours to protest the government’s inaction on climate change. Supporters of climate campaigning group Just Stop Oil are planning to hang out on the M25 until the end of the week to demand the UK’s new oil projects, the report reads. british newspaper, The Telegraph. The UK is still trying to bring heatwave-triggered wildfires under control. Some 2,600 calls clogged the London Fire Department on Tuesday. This is 2,250 calls more than the daily average, the mayor of the metropolis, Sadiq Khan, told AFP.
Fires continue in Greece
Greece, spared by the extreme heat experienced in western Europe, is facing major fires. The hot and dry climate sparked fires on the outskirts of Athens, forcing around 100 residents to evacuate their homes. On Wednesday, 500 firefighters were deployed with planes and helicopters to bring the flames under control in the suburbs of Penteli, Pallíni, Anthousa and Gerakas. The smoke spread as far as Crete with winds blowing at over 100 kilometers per hour. “The winds are so strong that the planes cannot launch water in a targeted manner”, lamented the head of Civil Protection, Vassilis Kokkalis, on the radio waves of Athens, quoted by AFP. Violent forest fires devoured more than 100,000 hectares of vegetation in the country last summer.
Extreme heat in Eastern Europe
Slovenia has also been fighting fires since Wednesday due to the strong heat that is beating down on the east of the continent. Hundreds of firefighters were deployed in the west of the country to contain the flames. The mercury is now climbing in Australia and Hungary. Vigilance alerts have been issued by the authorities. The temperature could reach 39°C on Thursday in southern Hungary, according to the National Meteorological Service. This heat wave hitting the old continent is attributable to climate change, according to experts. The increase in greenhouse gases multiplies the intensity, duration and frequency of these meteorological phenomena.