Wildfires rage in Europe amid heat wave, While the Britain faces its hottest day ever

• Thousands of hectares of forest have been scorched by wildfires in France and Spain.
• Britain is set to experience its hottest day on record amid a scorching heat wave.
• Wildfires engulfed the central region of Castile and León, as well as the northern region of Galicia.
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Thousands of hectares of forest have been scorched by raging wildfires in France and Spain, while Britain is set to experience its hottest day on record amid a scorching heat wave.

So far, the blazes have been most severe in Gironde, France’s southwestern region.
As of Monday, 14,300 hectares (35,000 acres) of land had been burned, with 24,000 people evacuated from the region, according to the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde prefecture.

The heat wave in Portugal has exacerbated an already-existing drought and sparked wildfires in the country’s central regions, including the village of Memoria in the municipality of Leiria.

Authorities have sent out 1,700 firefighters to put out the fires. According to a spokesperson for the Gironde regional fire and rescue service, 12 firefighters have been treated for minor injuries since the operation began.

Wildfires engulfed the central region of Castile and León, as well as the northern region of Galicia, in Spain.

According to data from Portugal’s national meteorological institute, the heat wave has exacerbated a drought that began before the heat wave. By the end of June, nearly 96 percent of the mainland was already in severe or extreme drought.

According to the national weather service, monthly minimum temperature records could be broken across France on Monday. Météo-France identified nine locations where monthly minimums are expected to be broken, including Rostrenen in Brittany, northwest France, where the record has stood since 1968.

Météo-France has issued a heatwave red alert to a total of 15 departments in the western and southwestern regions, with temperatures expected to reach 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday. A further 51 regions, including Paris, have been placed on orange alert, with residents urged to avoid going outside between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time.

“Given the peak of intensity expected for today, the chances are low that the mercury will drop sufficiently before the end of the day” for these records not to be broken, Météo-France added.

Since May, France has only had eight days with average daily temperatures that were lower than the aggregated summer average temperatures. According to Météo-France data, national daily averages for the remaining 39 days have been higher than the average temperatures for this time of year observed between 1991 and 2020.

According to Reuters, Spain’s weather service also issued extreme heat warnings on Sunday. Temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) were predicted for Aragon, Navarra, and La Rioja’s northern regions.

Britain, meanwhile, is bracing for the “hottest day in UK history,” according to a senior weather official. Over the soaring temperatures, the Met Office issued its first-ever red warning for “extreme heat” on Friday.
Penelope Endersby, CEO of the Met Office, said Monday could be the “hottest day in UK history,” but Tuesday is “expected to be even hotter.”

“So it’s tomorrow that we’re really seeing the higher chance of 40 degrees and temperatures above that,” Endersby told on Monday.

“Even possibly above that, 41 is not off the cards. We’ve even got some 43s in the model but we’re hoping it won’t be as high as that.”

Endersby stated that while extreme temperatures are not expected to last past Tuesday, the Met Office will keep an eye out for the possibility of a drought in the coming months.

“We’re expecting a big drop in temperature overnight into Wednesday — down 10 or 12 degrees on what has been the days before,” she said, adding: “Our attention is turning, once we’re past these two days, to drought and when we might see any rain, and we’re not seeing any significant rain coming up.”

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