Home Travel Sustainably

40C Heat: UK & Europe continue to bake in heatwave, wildfires rage

The UK is predicted to experience 40C temperatures for the first time in its history this week, while a heatwave and wildfires rage across Portugal, Spain, France and Croatia, burning homes and threatening livelihoods.

The UK is predicted to experience 40C temperatures for the first time in its history this week, while a heatwave and wildfires rage across Portugal, Spain, France and Croatia, burning homes and threatening livelihoods.

UK College of Paramedics chief executive Tracy Nicholls said the “ferocious heat” the UK is predicted to experience over the next few days could have a detrimental effect on Britons.

Scorching temperatures are predicted for Monday, with Peterborough expected to hit 37C and Milton Keynes, Norwich and Lincoln set to see 36C – while temperatures could rise to 40C in London on Tuesday.

Climate attribution scientist at the Met Office Dr Nikos Christidis said the 40C prediction is a result of climate change.

The UK’s first red extreme heat warning has also been issued by the Met Office across a large part of England from London to Manchester and York on Monday and Tuesday.

The UK Health Security Agency has also issued a heat health warning at level four, which is described as a “national emergency”.

Meanwhile, in Portugal’s central Leiria district, tired firefighters battled to control blazes that have been fanned by strong winds.

Footage from the area on Wednesday showed smoke darkening the sky and billowing across a highway, while flames licked around the roofs of houses in one small village.

“Yesterday was a very tough day,” Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said as he attended a briefing with the national meteorological institute IPMA.

“It is absolutely crucial we avoid new events because it leads to the exhaustion of firefighters and all others … who are doing their best to control the situation.”

Across the border in western Spain, a fire that started in the Extremadura region on Tuesday swept into Salamanca province in the region of Castile and Leon, forcing the evacuation of 49 children from a summer camp on Thursday.

Regional authorities said more than 4000 hectares of land had been burned.

Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET expected the heatwave to reach its peak later on Thursday, with temperatures likely to exceed 44C in large parts of southern Spain.

On Croatia’s Adriatic Coast, firefighting planes swooped low to dump water over burning forests, and troops were called in to help firefighters battling to contain three major wildfires around Zadar and Sibenek.

In southwestern France, about 1000 firefighters, supported by six water-bombing planes, were battling two wildfires that started on Tuesday.

“The fires are still not under control,” the local authority for the Gironde department said.

The biggest of the two Gironde fires was around the town of Landiras, south of Bordeaux, where roads have been closed and 500 residents evacuated.

The other blaze was along the Atlantic Coast, close to the “Dune du Pilat” – the tallest sand dune in Europe – in the Arcachon Bay area, above which heavy clouds of dark smoke were seen rising into the sky.

Around 6000 people were evacuated from five surrounding campsites on Wednesday and another 60 people early on Thursday.

Thousands of people were also evacuated from homes on Turkey’s southwestern Datca peninsula, as a fire that started on Wednesday was fanned by strong winds overnight and threatened residential areas.

Scientists blame human-caused climate change for the increased frequency of extreme weather such as heatwaves, which have also hit parts of China and the United States in recent days.

AAP