The heat wave has no borders. With 42°C in Zaragoza (Spain) and 34°C in Berlin (Germany) recorded on Saturday June 18, an early arc of heat is felt over a large part of Western Europe. Several regions are on red alert for the risk of drought or fires – in Spain, for example, thousands of hectares have already gone up in smoke. Franceinfo reviews the countries most affected by this sustained rise in mercury.
>> Red alert, broken records, galernal wind… Follow our live on the heat wave
Spain is in flames
Several fires broke out in the Sierra de la Culebra, a mountain range in the region of Castile and Leon, near the border with Portugal. The inhabitants of 14 villages were evacuated and no less than 20,000 hectares were reduced to ashes. “The fire in this area is completely out of control at the moment and the situation is terrifying”said the mayor of one of the villages threatened in the newspaper El Pais (in Spanish). Firefighters also continued to fight other fires in Caudiel, in the Valencia region, in the south-east of the country, but also in Artesa de Segre, in Catalonia, in the north-east, where an ongoing fire since Wednesday has already ravaged some 1,600 hectares of land.
Germany is also burning
This unusual heat wave is pushing the German authorities to monitor the forest areas in the east of the country more closely. In Brandenburg, the region around Berlin, the fire started on Friday and spread in the evening over around 60 hectares. Another blaze broke out in the Trecktal valley, southwest of Berlin, but the blaze is under control, although it threatens to flare up again due to drought and high ground temperatures. Here, some 6.5 hectares of forest have burned.
Italy is in dire need of water
A record drought brings Lombardy to its knees. This region of northern Italy could claim a state of emergency, while many municipalities have already ordered water rationing, reports the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano. In places, the filling of swimming pools, the watering of gardens or the washing of cars are prohibited until August 31. Above all, it is the crops that are threatened, while the Po River has reached its lowest level for 70 years.
Faced with this disaster, the mayor of Milan proposed to lower the waters of the city’s canals to irrigate the surrounding farms. “We are obliged to intervene to give water to our fields, if we want to save the crops”explained Beppe Sala, quoted by La Republica. The great Italian lakes, located in the north of the country, show worrying filling rates, around 20%, also reports the national daily.