Parts of Europe will remain much hotter than normal this week as wild fires destroy homes and forests in parts of Greece.
Madrid will for the next few days get temperatures of just below 40C (104F), or more than 6C above normal for the time of year, according to Maxar Technologies Inc. Red and Orange heat warnings remained in place for parts of Germany and France, respectively.
It’s been a summer with plenty of extreme weather, ranging from wild fires to flooding and violent storms across the Northern Hemisphere. The world’s hottest month ever was recorded in July and the extreme weather increases the intensity of such events.
Fires are still raging across parts of southeast Europe as dry, hot weather provides perfect conditions for blazes to start. A wildfire that began on Saturday morning in the Alexandroupolis in northeast Greece is still burning, according to authorities.
Temperatures in the nation will approach 40C this week at the same time as strong winds are expected, which will make it even more difficult to combat the flames. Three areas, including the greater capital Athens region, are under extreme fire danger alert on Monday and 10 more on high alert.
At the other end of the continent, the danger of rural fires is at “very high to maximum” level in inland areas of northern and central Portugal, as well as in the tourist hot spot of Algarve, according to the nation’s National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection. Temperatures could soar to as high as 44C, according to The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere.
Next week though, temperatures are forecast to ease with some major cities getting cooler than normal levels and it will be more than 2C below normal in London, Berlin and Rome as well as other cities, Maxar said.
Author: Todd Gillespie, Sotiris Nikas and Joao Lima
