Fires continue in Western Europe under the influence of the heat wave

Many Western European countries continued to battle devastating bushfires on Sunday, as a heat wave is expected to continue beyond the weekend, and many temperature records may be broken early next week, according to forecasts.

In southwestern France, the mobilization of firefighters to tackle the fires has not weakened, especially in the Gironde, where smoke has covered about 10,500 hectares of forest since Tuesday in the context of a heat wave that can reach 40 degrees locally, according to Meteorological France, which put 37 departments at a high degree of heat. Preparedness Sunday.

And the General Meteorological Organization warned that "the temperature is increasing while the heat wave is spreading throughout the country."

French meteorology also expected Monday to be "the hottest in the west of the country," noting that temperatures could reach forty degrees in Brittany, Normandy Pass, Aquitaine and West Occitanie.

So far, efforts have slowed the progress of the blaze in the Atlantic tourist basin of Arcachon, although Saturday night saw "a resurgence of some fires that threatened the camping sites in La Don de Bella that had to be evacuated," according to the newspaper. Gironde Prefecture tweet on Twitter.

"It was a bad night," Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Mandus told AFP in the Tites de Bosch department, where the fire expanded through the night.

He also explained that "the strategy revolved around protecting the camping sites, which we were able to do."

Inland towards Landeras, the fire advanced less than the previous night, thanks to an "effective strategy" that relied on "tactical arson and the establishment of firewalls," according to a fire department spokesman.

In total, more than 14,000 residents and vacationers have had to urgently pack their bags since Tuesday.

Seven emergency shelters and a medical and psychological emergency unit were also set up to support those affected.

Portugal witnessed a calm Sunday morning on the front facing the fire.

One outpost remained active near the northernmost town of Chaves, while more than 90 percent of its surroundings were "practically controlled," according to the Portuguese Civil Protection.

However, almost all of the Portuguese territory was considered to be prone to fires on Sunday, based on "extreme", "very high" or "high" risks, particularly the central and northern interior.

The Portuguese Meteorological Institute issued no warning of high temperatures on Sunday.

It is the first time since the eighth of July that the temperature in Portugal does not exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

The latest report issued by the Portuguese Civil Protection indicated that the fires last week left two dead and about sixty injured.

According to the latest estimates, the fires have destroyed between 12,000 and 15,000 hectares of forest.

In Spain, 20 forest fires are still raging and out of control in different parts of the country, from the south to the far northwest in Galicia, where the fires destroyed about 4,400 hectares of land this week, according to the authorities.

300 people out of 3,000 were allowed to return to their homes on Sunday, after they were evacuated preemptively near Malaga in the far south.

And the Spanish Meteorological Agency predicted "remarkably high" temperatures in most parts of the country's mainland and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean on Sunday, with temperatures reaching 42 degrees in the northern city of Logrono, and 40 degrees in Madrid and Seville.

In Greece, firefighters continued to fight an outbreak of a fire that broke out on Friday morning and caused the precautionary evacuation of seven villages in a rural area in the province of Rethymno on the island of Crete.

And in the United Kingdom - in northern Europe, the National Weather Service issued the first "red" alert of extreme heat, warning of a "risk to life".

The Met Office said temperatures in southern England could hit 40 degrees for the first time, Monday or Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the world, extreme temperatures caused forest fires, especially in northern Morocco, where one person died and half of the 4,660 hectares affected by the fires were destroyed.

Western Canada was also affected by a devastating fire that raged since Thursday in the Lytton region in north Vancouver, which was devastated last year by a historic heat wave and devastating fires.

The fire destroyed 1,500 hectares of forests and trees, destroyed many homes, and led to evictions.

This is the second heat wave in Europe in less than a month.

The proliferation of these phenomena is a direct result of global warming, according to scientists, with the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, in terms of intensity, duration and frequency.

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