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Extreme heat in Spain: forest fires rage - enormous risk throughout the country

2022-06-16T10:04:57.932Z


Extreme heat in Spain: forest fires rage - enormous risk throughout the country Created: 06/16/2022, 11:51 am By: Michelle Brey Smoke rises from the forest. Spain is experiencing drought and a persistent heatwave that occurs unusually early in the year. © Eduardo Sanz/dpa High temperatures have Spain firmly in its grip. Combined with severe drought, the risk of forest fires across the country


Extreme heat in Spain: forest fires rage - enormous risk throughout the country

Created: 06/16/2022, 11:51 am

By: Michelle Brey

Smoke rises from the forest.

Spain is experiencing drought and a persistent heatwave that occurs unusually early in the year.

© Eduardo Sanz/dpa

High temperatures have Spain firmly in its grip.

Combined with severe drought, the risk of forest fires across the country is extreme.

Madrid/Paris/Munich - 47.4 degrees: In August 2021, the absolute heat record was measured in Andalusia, Spain.

And in 2022, too, extreme temperatures will have Spain firmly under control.

A heat wave that has been going on since last weekend and which occurred unusually early in the year also affected areas in the center and north-east of the country on Wednesday (June 15).

The risk of forest fires increases with the heat.

Weather in Spain: Extreme heat - up to 45 degrees possible

In Zaragoza, temperatures could rise to 45 degrees on Saturday.

For the holiday island of Mallorca - a popular travel destination in Germany especially during the Pentecost holidays - 36 degrees were forecast.

At the same time, temperatures in the south, which was initially particularly hard hit, fell only slightly.

In the past few days, Spain has been groaning under the heat.

A spokesman for the Spanish weather service Aemet used the word "extreme temperatures" to describe the weather-related exceptional situation in Spain to the AFP news agency.

Authorities advised people to drink plenty of water, eat only light meals, avoid prolonged exposure to the sun, avoid strenuous exercise and seek medical advice at the first sign of heat stroke.

According to a report in the newspaper

El País

, heat waves are increasing in Spain.

They start earlier in the year, are longer, the temperatures are higher and more and more parts of the country are affected at the same time.

The south of Spain was already suffering from a premature heat wave with up to 41 degrees in May.

“Summer eats up spring,” was the headline in the newspaper at the time.

Drought and extreme heat: increased risk of forest and bush fires in Spain

In combination with severe drought, the heat in Spain also increases the risk of forest and bush fires.

As a graphic by the weather service Aemet shows, the risk of forest fires - with a few exceptions - is very high or even extreme in Spain.

The map from the Spanish weather service Aemet illustrates the predicted fire risk levels.

© Screenshot Aemet

Smoke rising from forest areas can be seen in pictures from the dpa news agency from June 15 (see article picture).

As the Spanish newspaper

El País

reported on Thursday, there are three active fires in Catalonia and forest fires in Zamora and in the Navarre region.

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As the state TV broadcaster RTVE reported, citing data from the European earth observation system Copernicus, more than 19,000 hectares of forest have already been burned since the beginning of the year.

That is about twice as much as the average for the same period from 2006 to 2021. Only recently a forest fire raged on the Costa del Sol.

Thousands of people had to be evacuated as a result.

After Spain, France too: Extreme heat increases the risk of forest fires

However, the heat wave coming from North Africa and Spain has also reached France.

The weather service Météo France announced the orange alert for Thursday in 23 of the 101 departments.

Temperatures of up to 39 degrees were expected in the southwest of the country, on Saturday it should be over 40 degrees.

It is the earliest hot spell in a year since weather records began in France.

The high temperatures are exacerbating the drought in the soil, which is already a major concern for farmers after a dry winter and spring.

The risk of forest fires also increases.

In the south of France, an ozone alarm was also declared locally.

Forest fires have already broken out in southern France as the drought persisted.

Meanwhile, a heat bell was also rolling over Germany.

High temperatures are expected in this country at the weekend.

(mbr with dpa and AFP).

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-06-16

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