Rising temperatures in Europe, particularly in the south and west, led to wildfires spreading across southern Europe, while the UK recorded its highest ever temperature on Tuesday.
Scientists say the latest heatwave is consistent with climate change, with temperatures soaring to more than 40C in some areas and wildfires raging in dry rural areas of Portugal, Spain and France.
Wildfires have also ravaged parts of southern Europe and northern Africa, killing hundreds of people, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes, and polluting and releasing harmful greenhouse gases.
In Britain, the Met Office announced that the country recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius for the first time on Tuesday.
Britain, which may struggle to maintain key transport services in unpredictable weather such as heavy snow or strong winds, has declared a state of national emergency due to record temperatures, Reuters reported.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would take several years for Britain to fully modernize its infrastructure to cope with high temperatures, after at least two airport runways showed signs of damage and some train lines were derailed.
“We’re seeing a lot of disruption to travel,” he told the BBC.
Dozens of fires broke out across England and Wales due to Tuesday’s record temperatures, while weather reports suggest temperatures may drop slightly on Wednesday.
And British authorities announced on Tuesday evening that London, the capital, was on maximum alert to deal with wildfires as the country recorded its highest temperature on record, amid fears of a worsening global climate crisis. they did .
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, described the situation caused by these fires as critical and, pointing out that the firefighters are working under extreme pressure, asked people to be safe.
According to the English channel “Sky News”, hundreds of firefighters have moved to control at least ten fires around London.
In France, firefighters are battling to contain massive wildfires in the country’s southwest, amid reports of possible record temperatures in southern and western Germany and Belgium, as well as a heat wave, which scientists attribute to climate change. .
The Gironde region, in southwestern France, where grapes are grown, saw the biggest forest fire in more than 30 years, and authorities said a man had been arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze.
The fires have spread over 19,300 hectares in rural areas around Bordeaux since July 12, forcing 34,000 people to evacuate their homes.
About 2,000 firefighters are fighting the fire with the support of 8 water jets.
In a statement, the authorities of this region said that despite the ground and air conflict, the situation has not been stabilized yet, adding that there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.
In Spain, a heat wave that lasted more than a week caused more than 510 heat-related deaths, according to estimates from the Carlos III Health Institute.
According to official data, more than 173,000 hectares have burned in Spain as of Monday this year, the worst year in 10 years.
Last month, a massive fire in the Sierra de la Culebra, Castile and León, destroyed about 30,000 hectares of land.
In Portugal, temperatures dropped over the weekend, but the Portuguese Meteorological Institute says the risk of forest fires is very high in most parts of the country.
Officials announced that more than 1,000 firefighters supported by 285 vehicles and 14 aircraft are fighting nine ongoing forest fires, especially in the northern regions of the country.
In Italy, which has seen smaller fires in recent days, meteorologists expect temperatures to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in several areas in the coming days.
Switzerland also suffered from the effects of the heat wave. And Expo, which runs the Pizenau nuclear power plant, announced on Monday that it was forced to cut production to avoid overheating the Ar River, from which it draws its cooling water.
A study by climate scientists published in the June issue of Environmental Research: Climate concluded that climate change is likely to have worsened the heat wave.
A February 2022 UN report said that with human-induced climate change leading to drought, the number of severe forest fires is expected to increase by 30 percent by 28 years.
Source: Lebanon Debate
