Spain and Portugal declares high-alert due to fire risk
Temperatures there are expected to range from 36 to 44 degrees Celsius.
Portugal's Minister of Internal Administration Maria Lúcia Amaral said access, movement and permanence within forest spaces would be prohibited in accordance with forest fire defence plans.
Fireworks, carrying out work and using machinery and burning things will also be prohibited as the nation faces the extreme heat. Amaral said these preventative measures came amid the high temperatures and low humidity and the corresponding risk of wildfires.
Five districts in the north of the country will be on red alert on Monday and Tuesday. All the remaining districts will be on orange alert, except for the district of Faro which will be on yellow.
The high alert situation will last until Thursday.
Forest fires continue to rage in the north of Portugal and at least one village in the Douro region had to be evacuated on Sunday.
Spain will also experience high temperatures as a mass of hot air from North Africa hovers over the Iberian Peninsula.
It is currently enduring the summer's second heatwave expected to last until the end of the weak. The extreme weather is set to affect the entire country except for the Cantabrian region and the Canary Islands.
Temperatures in Andalucía, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and Galicia are expected to surpass 40 degrees Celsius, with some zones like the Guadalquivir valley reaching as high as 42 degrees.
Spain's Ministry of Health issued a 'red risk' health alert for hundreds of municipalities.
The heatwave in both Portugal and Spain will reach its peak intensity on Monday and Tuesday.
Typically, cold Nordic countries are also being seared by a 'truly unprecedented' heatwave, according to local authorities.
Scientists say the region went through its longest heatwave since the 1960s – with temperatures regularly soaring past 30 degrees Celsius.
Finland had three straight weeks with over 30 degrees Celsius heat in July. Norway's Meterological Institute said temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius were recorded on 12 days in July in the country's most northernmost counties. Swedish scientists also noted long-term heatwaves affecting the north of the country.
The area has also been hit by storms and lighting strikes that have sparked wildfires.
Warnings were also issued in eastern Poland for storms, rain and heat over the weekend.
Strong winds of up to 80 km/h and hail are affected to hit parts of the country. The most severe warnings have been issued for parts of the Warmian-Masurian, Masovian, Lublin and Subcarpathian Voivodeships.
Storms in these areas will be accompanied by heavy rainfall of up to 45mm.
Authorities also warn of heatwave conditions with temperatures in the affected regions expected to hover around 30 degrees Celsius.
However, the long period of unstable weather that has characterised this year's Italian summer is finally coming to an end.
After baking in heatwaves across the country, rainstorms are now affecting several regions, particularly those along the Adriatic coast.
A 70-year-old man was reportedly struck by lightning on a beach in Piombino during a storm. He was saved by the intervention of rescue services, and his heart began beating again after 30 minutes of resuscitation. He was then transferred by hospital to a local hospital.
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France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Exceptional Nordic heatwave stumps tourists seeking shade
Tourism has been on the rise in Nordic countries in recent years, driven in part by the trend of "coolcations" -- where tourists flee the heat of the Mediterranean for milder temperatures in the north. But this year record-breaking temperatures in July dashed tourists' hopes of escaping the intense heat. On Monday, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said in a statement that the country had just emerged from 22 days of temperatures over 30C -- the longest such heatwave since records began in 1961. July was also the third hottest month recorded in Norway since records began in 1901, with temperatures 2.8 degrees Celsius higher that the seasonal average nationwide, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. A two-week heatwave, between July 12 and 25, was also the hottest ever recorded in the country. So-called "tropical nights", where the temperature doesn't drop below 20C, have become commonplace in the region. Tourists' hot surprise The unusually high temperatures have been a shock to tourists seeking to escape the heat elsewhere. Moussaab El Bacha, a Stockholm resident, told AFP about his parent's surprise when they came over from Morocco to visit. "They were actually quite surprised by the intensity of the heat here. They had expected a cooler break from the Moroccan summer, but instead, it felt like the heat followed them all the way to Sweden," he said. "It was a bit surreal for them to experience such high temperatures this far north — they kept saying: 'Are we sure we didn't just land in southern Spain?'" In Haparanda, in Sweden's far north, temperatures reached 25C or above for 14 consecutive days in July, and in Jokkmokk, the heatwave lasted over 15 days, something not seen in a century, according to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). An ice rink oasis In Rovaniemi, a Finnish town north of the Arctic Circle which bills itself as the hometown of Santa Claus, temperatures reached above 30C last week. The municipality of Joensuu in southeastern Finland opened an ice rink for people to cool off in, to reduce pressure on the local healthcare services, North Karelia's regional healthcare services chief Mikael Ripatti told AFP. Ripatti said emergency rooms had become overcrowded as people sought care for heat-related health issues. "The aim was to provide a place to go if it was too hot at home," Ripatti said. Other cities opened up similar cooling facilities to the public, with a shop in Helsinki letting people lie down next to its cooling shelves. Arctic heating The Arctic region is heating far faster than other parts of the planet. Of the continents overall, Europe has seen the fastest warming per decade since 1990, followed closely by Asia, according to global data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "The length of the period and the high temperatures throughout the day in all parts of the country were very unusual this time," Ketil Isaksen, a climate researcher with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, said in a statement. "This type of heatwave has become more likely with climate change," the researcher added. Scientists say recurring heatwaves are a marker of global warming and are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense. "There have been heatwaves in the past and there will continue to be heatwaves in the future," Hannele Korhonen, a research professor at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, told AFP. But as climate change drives up global temperatures we are "exceeding the heatwave threshold more often, and the heatwaves are hotter", she added. "An in-depth attribution study would be necessary to pinpoint or assess the role of climate change in the prolonged heatwave (that struck) northern Sweden," Sverker Hellstrom, a meteorologist at SMHI, told AFP.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Euronews
Spain and Portugal declares high-alert due to fire risk
Portugal entered a state of alert on Sunday due to the worsening risk of wildfires amid severe hot weather. Temperatures there are expected to range from 36 to 44 degrees Celsius. Portugal's Minister of Internal Administration Maria Lúcia Amaral said access, movement and permanence within forest spaces would be prohibited in accordance with forest fire defence plans. Fireworks, carrying out work and using machinery and burning things will also be prohibited as the nation faces the extreme heat. Amaral said these preventative measures came amid the high temperatures and low humidity and the corresponding risk of wildfires. Five districts in the north of the country will be on red alert on Monday and Tuesday. All the remaining districts will be on orange alert, except for the district of Faro which will be on yellow. The high alert situation will last until Thursday. Forest fires continue to rage in the north of Portugal and at least one village in the Douro region had to be evacuated on Sunday. Spain will also experience high temperatures as a mass of hot air from North Africa hovers over the Iberian Peninsula. It is currently enduring the summer's second heatwave expected to last until the end of the weak. The extreme weather is set to affect the entire country except for the Cantabrian region and the Canary Islands. Temperatures in Andalucía, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and Galicia are expected to surpass 40 degrees Celsius, with some zones like the Guadalquivir valley reaching as high as 42 degrees. Spain's Ministry of Health issued a 'red risk' health alert for hundreds of municipalities. The heatwave in both Portugal and Spain will reach its peak intensity on Monday and Tuesday. Typically, cold Nordic countries are also being seared by a 'truly unprecedented' heatwave, according to local authorities. Scientists say the region went through its longest heatwave since the 1960s – with temperatures regularly soaring past 30 degrees Celsius. Finland had three straight weeks with over 30 degrees Celsius heat in July. Norway's Meterological Institute said temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius were recorded on 12 days in July in the country's most northernmost counties. Swedish scientists also noted long-term heatwaves affecting the north of the country. The area has also been hit by storms and lighting strikes that have sparked wildfires. Warnings were also issued in eastern Poland for storms, rain and heat over the weekend. Strong winds of up to 80 km/h and hail are affected to hit parts of the country. The most severe warnings have been issued for parts of the Warmian-Masurian, Masovian, Lublin and Subcarpathian Voivodeships. Storms in these areas will be accompanied by heavy rainfall of up to 45mm. Authorities also warn of heatwave conditions with temperatures in the affected regions expected to hover around 30 degrees Celsius. However, the long period of unstable weather that has characterised this year's Italian summer is finally coming to an end. After baking in heatwaves across the country, rainstorms are now affecting several regions, particularly those along the Adriatic coast. A 70-year-old man was reportedly struck by lightning on a beach in Piombino during a storm. He was saved by the intervention of rescue services, and his heart began beating again after 30 minutes of resuscitation. He was then transferred by hospital to a local hospital.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Euronews
Portugal declares high-alert due to hot weather and fire risk
Mainland Portugal will enter a state of alert from midnight on Sunday due to the worsening risk of wildfires as a result of "considerably severe hot weather" with maximum temperatures expected to range from 36 to 44 degrees Celsius. The announcement was made on Saturday by Minister of Internal Administration Maria Lúcia Amaral. It will be in force until 11.59pm on 7 August. "This decision stems from the maintenance of very high temperatures, low humidity levels and the need to adopt preventive and special measures to respond to the risk of fire in a large part of mainland Portugal," explained the minister. During this period, she added, the following exceptional measures will be implemented: "Prohibition of access, movement and permanence within forest spaces, in accordance with municipal forest fire defence plans; prohibition of burning and burning as well as suspension of authorisations that have been issued; prohibition of carrying out work in forest spaces and other rural spaces using machinery; prohibition of the use of fireworks or other pyrotechnic artefacts as well as the suspension of authorisations that have been issued." Amaral said there are some very specific exceptions to these restrictions which can be found on the Portuguese government portal. Episode of severe hot weather in Portugal A mass of hot air from North Africa will be over the Iberian Peninsula from Sunday. It means that Portugal and Spain will experience even higher temperatures that could reach 45 degrees Celsius. Until next Wednesday, a severe episode of hot weather is expected in Portugal. Maximum temperatures of between 36°C and 40°C are expected in most of the country, and between 41°C and 44°C in the interior of the Alentejo, the Tagus Valley and the Douro Valley. On Monday, the maximum temperature is expected to drop in the Algarve, which may also occur along the rest of the coast and extend to Tuesday, the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) warned. However, Porto, Braga, Bragança, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real will be on red alert on Monday. The IPMA indicates that "tropical nights are expected in most of the territory", with minimum temperatures varying between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius from Monday onwards. As a result of the heatwave, all the districts of mainland Portugal, with the exception of Faro, are under an orange warning. The orange warning, which is the second most serious on a scale of three, is issued by the IPMA when there is a meteorological situation of moderate to high risk. The yellow warning, which is less serious, is issued when there is a risk situation for certain activities depending on weather.
