European heatmap turns dark red: wildfires ravage Bordeaux up to 45 degrees in Spain and Portugal | Instagram news VTM

In France, the heat is expected to peak on Monday. In the southwest, mercury can rise to 42 degrees. In the center-west, the Rhone Valley and the region of Le de France, temperatures usually reach 40 degrees.

The heat wave will last from seven to ten days, much shorter than the fifteen sweltering days in August 2003. Code orange applies to heat in seven divisions. These are Ardèche, Drôme, Haute-Garonne, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonnegeldt. The yellow code has been announced for 27 departments.

Meanwhile, wildfires devastated the Bordeaux region. In Teste-de-Buch, near the sand dunes of Pilat, 1,200 hectares have already been destroyed. In Landeras it has an area of ​​1,500 hectares. 6,000 people had to be evacuated from the camp sites. They are housed in an exhibition center and shopping mall. At the moment, about 800 men have been deployed to combat the fire and reinforcements are still on the way. Last night, 500 residents of Guillos municipality were evacuated as a precaution.

France was hit by a heat wave for the first time this year in June. Then many heat records were broken. Meteo France expects that only local monthly records will be broken. Absolute temperature records are likely to remain constant.

In Spain, the people of Extremadura, Andalusia and Galicia are having a hard time. 45 degrees were reached in Seville today. Spain’s weather institute Aemet warns that the absolute record of 47.4 degrees – set in August 2021 – could soon be broken. Hundreds of residents have been evacuated at the border with Portugal as a precaution due to a forest fire. According to the authorities, about 3,500 hectares have already caught fire. The animals in the Madrid Zoo were given the necessary cooling, for example with lollipops that were lightened with steak, fish or watermelon.

“It will be one of the three longest heat waves in Spain since 1975,” said Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for Aemet, noting that the heat wave is “extremely exceptional”, but that global warming will lead to more frequent and intense heat waves. The number of heat waves in the country has doubled in the past 12 years,” it seems.

Portugal is also flirting with the absolute record. It has been at 47.3 degrees since 2003, and today 45 degrees has been reached in the departments of Santarem and Leiria (near Lisbon). More than 2,700 firefighters are working across the country to control 27 wildfires.

In the Algarve, tourists are no longer allowed to access the luxury resort of Quinta do Lago because it has become too dangerous due to thick plumes of smoke in the area. “The fire spreads in urban areas, with lots of dry vegetation. A small spark is enough to fan the flames.”

In Leiria, part of the highway had to be closed. There was thick smoke on both sides of the track. Helicopters and planes dropped water to minimize damage.

A forest fire broke out on the Greek island of Samos on Wednesday afternoon. The firebox is located in the west of the island near the town of Paleochori. Large clouds of smoke appear from afar, according to photos and videos in the Greek media. In the area, winds were blowing up to seven Beaufort.

According to the fire service, a helicopter with four people on board crashed in the Aegean Sea. Two of the four passengers were found dead and one person is still missing. The pilot of the plane was taken to hospital with serious injuries. His condition is critical.

14 fire trucks, three firefighting planes and a second firefighting helicopter are also working to control the flames.

In Italy, temperatures will rise mainly in the north in the coming days. It was already very dry in that area. The Po River is at its lowest level in 70 years.

Temperatures between 38 and 39 degrees are expected on Friday in Tuscany, Milan and elsewhere. On Sunday the weather will be a little warmer, up to 40 degrees.