Relief.

After two weeks of fighting the flames, Greece finally came to terms with the fires that hit the country.

“Since yesterday (Thursday), there is no longer a major active front, just scattered pockets,” assured a spokesperson for the Greek firefighters.

Favored by fifteen days of heatwave, the multiple fires were finally able to be extinguished thanks to the precipitation that fell in several regions and the drop in temperatures.

The teams of firefighters deployed by the hundreds, with foreign reinforcements, however, remain on alert in the face of the risks of a resurgence on the island of Euboea, hit hardest by these fires, and in the region of Arcadia, on the peninsula of Peloponnese, while gusts of winds likely to stir up possible fires are expected this weekend.

Heatwaves: a major fire factor

In total, more than 100,000 hectares have gone up in flames in Greece since the end of July, giving rise to scenes of the apocalypse. Hundreds of homes and small businesses were swept away in the flames that swept through Evia, 200 km northeast of Athens, part of the Peloponnese and the outer periphery of the capital. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis lamented an unprecedented environmental disaster which he directly linked to climate change.

The increasing fires across the globe are associated with various phenomena that scientists anticipate due to global warming.

According to them, the recurrent heat waves are an unequivocal marker and these heat waves are called to multiply, lengthen and intensify: an ideal combination for the development of fires.

"Globally, the increase in temperatures and aridity has lengthened the fire season and doubled the area at risk of fires", according to a draft report by UN climate experts (IPCC).

48.8 degrees recorded in Sicily

Three French Canadair dispatched so far in Greece have been redeployed to Sicily, facing fires just like its neighbor in Calabria, the Italian tip of the Boot. An anticyclone called Lucifer is currently crossing the peninsula, causing thermometers to explode, with a record temperature of 48.8 degrees recorded Wednesday in Sicily, which, if approved, would constitute a new European record. Faced with these fires which killed four people, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced Thursday evening "a relief program for the people and businesses affected, alongside a special plan for reforestation and securing the territory".

In Spain, also overwhelmed by the heat, fires started Thursday in Aragon, Rioja and Catalonia, three regions in the north of the country.

The most important fire is that of Catalonia, which affects a protected forest area of ​​41 hectares on the coast of the province of Tarragona.

In Portugal, the government has placed 14 of the 18 regions on fire alarm from Friday noon until Monday midnight.

"We already know that the next few days are going to be difficult," Prime Minister Antonio Costa warned on Thursday.

Tunisia, Algeria and Turkey hard hit

The southern shore of the Mediterranean is not spared: in northern Algeria, firefighters and volunteers are fighting relentlessly against fires that have already killed 71 people.

Charred vegetation, dying cattle and besieged villages: the fires also sowed desolation on their passage in Kabylia (north-east).

In neighboring Tunisia, around thirty fires fueled by the heatwave have been recorded since Monday in the mountainous regions of the north-west and center-west of the country, where several families have been evacuated.

For its part, Turkey, barely recovering from deadly fires, announced Friday that at least 27 people had died in floods in the north of the country, also consequences of global warming.

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