Thousands have been forced to flee their homes as deadly wildfires, fueled by an unprecedented heatwave, continue to sweep through Southern Europe.
Firefighters worked through the night to contain a blaze near Madrid, Spain. A man caught in the fire in Tres Cantos, close to the capital, died in hospital after suffering 98% burns, Sky News reported.
Flames also broke out in several other Spanish regions, including Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia, and Galicia. The Spanish Interior Ministry declared a “pre-emergency” and placed national services on standby to support firefighting efforts. Nearly 1,000 members of the armed forces are already assisting. Forecasters warn that temperatures could reach 44°C in parts of the country.
In Portugal, over 700 firefighters are battling a blaze in Trancoso, hundreds of kilometers northeast of Lisbon. “They are cooking us alive, this cannot go on,” said Alexandre Favaios, mayor of Vila Real, where a fire has been active for 10 days.
Turkey has also faced widespread wildfires, including in the northwestern province of Çanakkale, forcing hundreds to evacuate. The flames temporarily closed Çanakkale Airport and the Dardanelles Strait to ships.
In Greece, fires prompted the evacuation of several villages and a hotel on the tourist islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea, as well as four other mainland regions. “The winds are strong and the fire is out of control,” Zakynthos mayor Yiorgos Stasinopoulos told public broadcaster ERT.
Heatwave red and yellow alerts have been issued in Italy and France. On Monday, southern France recorded an all-time high of 41.6°C in Bordeaux, breaking the previous record of 41.2°C set in 2019. Records were also broken in Bergerac, Cognac, and Saint-Girons, according to Meteo France.
Scientists warn that global warming is bringing hotter, drier summers to the Mediterranean. Europe is warming faster than any other continent, with temperatures rising at twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Last year was the hottest on record in Europe — and globally.
