Continued hot weather means heat alerts set to continue
Heavy rain and thunderstorms have affected parts of England, including London and Kent, with similar conditions forecast for the South East and isolated storms in Northern England and Northern Ireland.
Scotland faces flood alerts and a yellow thunderstorm warning, with potential for heavy rainfall and localised flooding.
A major incident was declared by North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue due to a moor fire near RAF Fylingdales, which has spread over five square kilometres.
England is experiencing "nationally significant" water shortfalls, with several regions in drought or prolonged dry weather status, impacting agriculture and increasing wildfire risks.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
44 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Spain, Portugal and Greece fight wildfires as heatwave expected to last for days
Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece are continuing to battle wildfires on a public holiday in all three countries as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes. Spain is fighting 14 major fires, according to Virginia Barcones, general director of emergency services. Advertisement Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend. This recent photo taken from a French Canadair water bomber by the Securite Civile shows a wildfire in Spain (Securite Civile via AP) 'Today will once again be a very tough day, with an extreme risk of new fires,' Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X. The national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in most of the country, including where the largest blazes were burning in the north and west. A heatwave which brought temperatures exceeding 40C on several days this month was expected to last until Monday. Advertisement Fires in the Galicia region forced the closure of several highways. The high speed rail line connecting it to Spain's capital Madrid remained suspended. The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares or 610 square miles, according to the European Union's European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London. Advertisement A fire approaches a farm during a wildfire in Santa Baia De Montes, north-western Spain (Lalo R Villar/AP) In both Spain and Portugal it was the Feast of the Assumption, a major Catholic holiday usually marked by family gatherings and religious processions. In Portugal, nearly 4,000 firefighters were battling fires on Friday. Seven major fires were active. Authorities extended the state of alert until Sunday, amid high temperatures expected to last through the weekend. Advertisement A wildfire in Greece burned out of control for a fourth day on the island of Chios, prompting several more overnight evacuations. Two water-dropping planes and two helicopters were operating in the north of the island in the eastern Aegean Sea, where local authorities said a lull in high winds was helping firefighters early on Friday. Following a series of large fires in western Greece earlier this week, the fire service was on alert on Friday outside Athens and nearby areas in the south of the country where adverse weather conditions elevated the fire risk. The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expressed solidarity on Friday with the victims of wildfires in southern Europe during prayers for the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, an important religious holiday for Orthodox Christians. Advertisement
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rolls Royce mystery forces Plymouth Tinside Lido closure
A Devon seafront lido has been closed to swimmers to allow a Rolls Royce car to use the City Council said Tinside Lido, on the Hoe, was shut to swimmers on Friday for an "activity hosted by a prestigious British brand" with more details expected to be released later in the gathered on Hoe Road, which overlooks the pool, where they could see a black Rolls Royce car with a silver bonnet on a submerged plinth in the water with a film crew around the outside of the council apologised to people keen to swim in temperatures forecast to go above 20C (68F) but explained that it was "a unique and exciting opportunity to showcase Plymouth". 'It's brilliant' Among those watching was Doug Cooper who said his wife had been hoping to go for a said he thought the situation was "a bit of fun and not a problem".He added: "It might have disrupted some people's plans but, at the end of the day, I think it's brilliant."Dana Stallard said she swam in the lido every weekend when she was growing up in Plymouth and thought what was happening was "wonderful" for the town."I think it brings holidaymakers down and everybody's out looking at it so it's nice to see what's going on," she added.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Spain battles 14 major fires with more expected
VILLANUEVA DE LA SIERRA, Spain, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Spain battled 14 major fires driven by high winds and aggravated by heat on Friday as authorities warned of "unfavourable conditions" to tackle flames that have already killed seven people and burned an area the size of London. Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years. And a nearly two-week heatwave and southerly winds were worsening the situation in Spain, Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services, said on Friday. "In the western part of the country the situation is extremely worrying," Barcones said on RTVE. In Galicia, several fires converged to form a large blaze, forcing the closure of highways and rail services to the region. As fire spread from Galicia's Ourense province to neighbouring Zamora, provoking evacuations, some stayed behind to protect their homes. "We are waiting for the fire to come down to try and stop it, so it does not get to the houses," Loli Baz, 52, told Reuters from the village of Villanueva de la Sierra in Zamora. Spain's national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in the north and west of the country, as temperatures are expected to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on the north coast. "Today will be another very difficult day, with an extreme risk of new fires," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X. A fire near Molezuelas de la Carballeda in the Castile and Leon region - one of the largest in Spain's history - had not advanced since Thursday. That wildfire had, at one point, been spreading by 4,000 hectares (15.4 square miles) per hour, said Eduardo Diego, national government representative for the region. A fire near Badajoz in the Extremadura region, meanwhile, burned 2,500 hectares in a few hours before being brought under control. "It was very fast with enormous growth, but it has been possible to tackle it," Jose Luis Quintana, the national government representative for the region, told RTVE. The fires caused the closure of more than half a dozen roads on a busy bank holiday weekend, leaving travelers stuck at the height of summer holidays. In the town of Oimbra in Ourense province, where three firefighters were seriously injured, a man was arrested for causing a fire by using his tractor when it was prohibited, police said. Two people were also arrested in Costa da Morte in Galicia for provoking fires by illegally burning copper cables to extract the metal, according to the Interior Ministry. Wildfires have burned more than 157,000 hectares in Spain so far this year, almost double the annual average, according to the European Union's Forest Fire Information Service. In neighbouring Portugal, meanwhile, thousands of firefighters were battling five large blazes in central and northern parts of the country, with one fire in Trancoso, some 350 km northeast of Lisbon, now raging for six days. Around 300 residents were evacuated on Friday from the village of Covanca near Piodao, an area of central Portugal popular with tourists, after a wildfire broke out on Wednesday. Portugal has activated the EU mechanism for assistance and requested four Canadair planes, according to civil protection commander Mario Silvestre.
