Fires threaten a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Spain as temperatures hit new records.
A new heatwave has gripped parts of Europe, sending temperatures up to 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit), with wildfires wreaking havoc and forcing evacuations as the impact of global warming is keenly felt on the continent.
Firefighters in northwestern Spain struggled on Monday to contain a wildfire that damaged an ancient Roman mining site and forced hundreds of residents to flee.
Regional Environment Minister Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones said the firefighting effort near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Las Medulas faced “many difficulties” due to high temperatures and winds of up to 40 kilometres per hour (25 miles per hour).
Extreme heat and strong winds caused “fire whirls”. “This occurs when temperatures reach around 40 degrees Celsius [104F] in a very confined valley and then suddenly [the fire] enters a more open and oxygenated area,” Suarez-Quinones said.
Four people, including two firefighters, have suffered minor injuries, he added. “We will not allow people to return until safety in their communities is absolutely guaranteed,” Suarez-Quinones told reporters, estimating that about 700 people remained displaced.
Authorities said damage to the Roman gold-mining area famed for its striking red landscape in northwestern Spain will be assessed once the fire is fully under control.
In the northern part of neighbouring Portugal, nearly 700 firefighters were battling a blaze that started on Saturday in Trancoso, about 350km (200 miles) northeast of Lisbon.
The French national weather authority, Meteo-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.
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“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. The red alert in France has been issued only eight times since it was created in 2004 after a deadly summer the year before.
Three major fires also blazed along the borders with Greece and Turkiye, including one near Strumyani that reignited after three weeks.
In Bulgaria, temperatures were expected to exceed 40C (104F) on Monday with maximum fire danger alerts in place.
Nearly 200 fires have been reported. Most have been brought under control, localised and extinguished, but the situation remains “very challenging”, said Alexander Dzhartov, head of Bulgaria’s national fire safety unit.
Hungary on Sunday recorded a new national high of 39.9C (104F) in the southeast, breaking a record set in 1948. Budapest also recorded a city record at 38.7C (101.6F).
Wildfires destroyed several homes in Albania as firefighters battled blazes in sweltering conditions on Monday. According to Albania’s Ministry of Defence, firefighters and soldiers subdued most of the close to 40 fires that flared up within 24 hours but more than a dozen were still active.
In Croatia, about 150 firefighters spent the night defending homes from a blaze near the port city of Split.