An unprecedented heat wave hits southern Europe.
After Italy and its record temperatures - 48.8 ° C in Sicily on Wednesday - due to the "Lucifer" high pressure, it is the turn of Spain and Portugal to fall victim to an air mass very hot from northern Africa.
This type of heat wave is set to intensify and worsen with climate change, scientists say.
In Italy, major fires have broken out.
Firefighters fought half a thousand fires overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
"528 interventions have been carried out in the last twelve hours, including 230 in Sicily, where the situation is currently under control," said the firefighters in a statement.
About 50 volunteer firefighters from all over Italy were dispatched to help fight the flames.
In Calabria, where they carried out a hundred interventions during the night, the situation is particularly difficult near the towns of Reggio Calabria, facing the Strait of Messina in the extreme south, at Catanzaro and Cosenza in the interior.
Read also Heat wave and fires: why the countries of southern Europe are suffocating
A new victim has been recorded, bringing the death toll from the fires to four this week.
The “Lucifer” high pressure is currently crossing the peninsula and blowing up thermometers.
The charred body of a 79-year-old man was discovered near Reggio Calabria on Wednesday, and another 77-year-old man in Calabria has died trying to shelter his herd from the flames, agencies say Italian press.
Last Friday, a 53-year-old woman and her 35-year-old nephew died, still near Reggio Calabria, while trying to save the family olive grove.
An "extreme" fire risk in Spain and Portugal
Spain and Portugal, meanwhile, entered an intense heat wave, at least until Monday.
The temperatures far above the seasonal norms are due to the irruption of a very hot air mass from the north of Africa, combined with a strong solar exposure.
Fires are expected in much of the peninsula, according to authorities in both countries.
This risk worries all the more in Spain and Portugal, because the Mediterranean basin has been the scene for several weeks of devastating fires, especially in Greece and Algeria.
Read also Climate warming: from west to east, the Earth is on fire
In Spain, the fire risk is rated "extreme" in much of the country on Thursday and Friday, according to the National Meteorological Agency.
It has not yet published its risk forecast for the following days.
In Portugal, the fire alert is "maximum" between Thursday and Monday in the northern and central regions in the interior of the country, as well as part of the Algarve to the south, according to Météo Portugal.
45 ° C expected in southern Spain
This heat wave will take the mercury to 40 ° C. Significantly higher peaks are even expected in several regions, especially in the Guadalquivir valley in southern Spain where temperatures could climb to 45 ° C. Already on Wednesday, temperatures reached 42 ° C in the province of Ciudad Real in the center of the country, according to measurements from the Spanish National Meteorological Agency.
In the north-east, the very touristy region of Catalonia has banned camping in the forest and sporting activities in rural areas, as well as certain mechanical agricultural activities at certain times, in order to limit the risk of fire. For the first time since 1920, the famous Retiro Park, very popular with Madrileños looking for a shady spot, should display more than 40 ° C for three consecutive days, from Friday to Sunday, the spokesperson said. word of the Meteorological Agency, Rubén del Campo, on Twitter.
Temperaturas temperaturas previstas para Madrid por los miembros del modelo de predicción por conjuntos del @ECMWF.
El viernes, sábado y domingo podrían alcanzarse en el Retiro los 40º.
Sería la primera vez que sucede durante tres días consecutivos en este observatorio centenario pic.twitter.com/uzNMDGDBJK
- Rubén del Campo (@Rub_dc) August 12, 2021
Between 2011 and 2020, Spain recorded twice as many heat waves as in each of the previous three decades.
Scientists see repeated heat waves as an unequivocal effect of global warming and believe that these heat waves are bound to multiply, lengthen and intensify.
"In Spain, we are not immune from this danger," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned on Wednesday of the fires, adding that the country had entered "a risk zone" due to the arrival. of this heat wave. He also called on his compatriots "to be very careful" to limit the risk of fires. Portugal, which in 2017 experienced deadly fires that claimed more than a hundred victims, "does not want to know this scenario again", insisted Wednesday its Prime Minister, Antonio Costa.
