Europe's ‘out of control' wildfires hit tourism spots, forests: ‘we're being cooked alive'
Global warming is giving the Mediterranean region hotter, drier summers, scientists say, with wildfires surging each year and sometimes whipping up into 'whirls'.
'We are being cooked alive, this cannot continue,' said a mayor in Portugal, Alexandre Favaios, as three fires burned.
On the outskirts of the Spanish capital, Madrid, a fire killed a man working at a horse stable and reached some houses and farms but was contained by Tuesday, regional authorities said.
To the south in Tarifa, on Spain's coast close to Morocco, beachgoers and celebrity chef José Andrés filmed flames and black smoke on the hills above elegant whitewashed villas.
More than 2,000 people were evacuated from Tarifa as the fire – believed to have started in eucalyptus and pine forests – spread, officials said. Helicopters doused the blaze with seawater.
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South China Morning Post
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Europe wildfires kill at least 3 and displace thousands amid heatwave
Wildfires intensified across southern Europe on Wednesday with a round-the-clock battle to protect the perimeter of Greece's third-largest city and at least three deaths reported in Spain, Turkey and Albania. Advertisement Outside the Greek port city of Patras, firefighters struggled to protect homes and agricultural facilities as flames tore through pine forests and olive groves. Tall columns of flames rose behind apartment blocks on the outskirts of the city, while dozens of vehicles were torched as flames swept through a nearby impound lot. 'Today is another very difficult day with the level of fire risk remaining very high across many parts of the country,' Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said. At least 15 firefighters were hospitalised or received medical attention for burns, smoke inhalation or exhaustion, he added. As water-dropping planes and helicopters swooped overhead, residents joined the effort, beating back flames with cut branches or dousing them with buckets of water. Wildfires are seen in the Epirus region of Greece on Wednesday. Image: Maxar Technologies via AFP Firefighting resources were stretched thin in many affected countries as they battled multiple outbreaks following weeks of heatwaves and temperature spikes across the Mediterranean region. On the Greek island of Chios, exhausted firefighters slept on the roadside following a night-long shift.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Europe's ‘out of control' wildfires hit tourism spots, forests: ‘we're being cooked alive'
Firefighters across Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans were battling wildfires on Tuesday with another heatwave pushing temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of Europe. Global warming is giving the Mediterranean region hotter, drier summers, scientists say, with wildfires surging each year and sometimes whipping up into 'whirls'. 'We are being cooked alive, this cannot continue,' said a mayor in Portugal, Alexandre Favaios, as three fires burned. On the outskirts of the Spanish capital, Madrid, a fire killed a man working at a horse stable and reached some houses and farms but was contained by Tuesday, regional authorities said. To the south in Tarifa, on Spain's coast close to Morocco, beachgoers and celebrity chef José Andrés filmed flames and black smoke on the hills above elegant whitewashed villas. More than 2,000 people were evacuated from Tarifa as the fire – believed to have started in eucalyptus and pine forests – spread, officials said. Helicopters doused the blaze with seawater.
RTHK
3 days ago
- RTHK
Europe heatwave fuels Spanish wildfires
Europe heatwave fuels Spanish wildfires Firefighters try to contain a wildfire outside Congosta, northern Spain. Photo: Reuters Extreme heat and strong winds caused "fire whirls" as a blaze burned several houses and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from near a Unesco-listed national park in northern Spain, authorities said on Monday. Thirteen fires broke out in the north of the Castile and Leon region, with about 700 people told to abandon their homes in half a dozen villages. Four fires were still live, Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones, chief of environment for the regional government, said on Monday morning. Firefighters had extinguished the other nine. High temperatures on Sunday had caused the so-called fire whirls near Las Medulas park, forcing firemen to retreat and burning some houses in the nearby village, according to Suarez-Quinones. "This occurs when temperatures reach around 40 degrees Celsius in a very confined valley and then suddenly (the fire) enters a more open and oxygenated area. This produces a fireball, a fire whirl," he said. Scientists say the Mediterranean region's hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires. Once fires start, dry vegetation and strong winds can cause them to spread rapidly and burn out of control, sometimes provoking fire whirls. A prolonged heatwave in Spain continued on Monday with temperatures set to reach 42C in some regions. The heatwave gripping parts of Europe sent temperatures up to 43C in southern France, increasing risks of wildfires in wine country. The French national weather authority, Météo-France, placed 12 departments on red alert, the country's highest heat warning, anticipating exceptional heat stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean plains. Forty-one other departments were under lower-level orange alerts, as was the neighbouring microstate of Andorra, between France and Spain. 'Don't be fooled – this isn't 'normal, it's summer.' It's not normal, it's a nightmare,' agricultural climatologist Serge Zaka, told BFMTV from Montauban in France's Tarn-et-Garonne department, where the blistering heat pressed relentlessly throughout the day. Social media images showed shuttered streets in Valence, residents shielding windows with foil to reflect the light, and tourists huddling under umbrellas along the Garonne in Toulouse. Across the south, café terraces stood empty as people sought cooler corners indoors. Scientists say Europe is becoming the world's fastest-warming continent. According to the UK-based Carbon Brief, 2025 is predicted to be the second- or third-warmest year on record. Europe's land temperatures have risen about 2.3C above pre-industrial levels, nearly twice the global rate, intensifying heat waves, the EU's Copernicus climate service reports. EU data show burned area across the continent is already far above the long-term average this summer, with major outbreaks in Spain, Portugal and deadly blazes in Greece since late June. (Reuters/AP)
