As of: 07/15/2022 5:25 p.m
There has never been anything like it in Britain: red alert because of the approaching heat. According to the weather service, this also applies to Germany. Numerous forest fires continue to rage in southern Europe.
Southern Europe has been struggling with extremely high temperatures, drought and forest fires for days – but now Great Britain is also sounding the alarm as a precaution.
The UK Weather Agency warned today: “Extraordinary, perhaps record-breaking, temperatures are likely early next week.” And that’s why, for the first time ever, the Met Office issued a red alert for the expected heat. According to its own statutes, the authority only does this if it is “very likely” “that there are risks to life and limb”, significant disruptions to traffic and energy supply are to be expected and “extensive damage to property and infrastructure”.
Will the Cambridge record be broken?
The alert level therefore applies to Monday and Tuesday in parts of central, north, east and south-east England. In some parts of the UK there is a chance that temperatures will rise above 40 degrees these days. This would set a new heat record. So far, the highest temperature recorded in the UK was 38.7 degrees Celsius, reached on 25 July 2019 at Cambridge Botanic Gardens.
The British Health Safety Authority even warned of a “national emergency” because such temperatures not only threaten health damage to high-risk groups, but also “serious health consequences” could occur in fit people.
As the AP news agency reported, some British hospitals are already preparing for an increase in admissions as a result of the heat. Transport companies also warned of possible restrictions or cancellations in train and air traffic.
High temperatures also expected in Germany
In its current ten-day forecast, the German Weather Service (DWD) also assumes that temperatures could reach just under the 40-degree mark in the Federal Republic in the coming week. The high “Jürgen” brings the heat from the British Isles to Germany.
The DWD predicts high temperatures in most parts of Germany, especially for next Tuesday – they could rise to up to 39 degrees Celsius, especially in the south-west and west. It should only remain cooler in the north and north-east.
Spain: One of the longest hot spells since 1975
The current heat wave is causing severe forest fires in several countries in southern Europe. And even at the weekend there is no improvement in the weather situation in sight. According to meteorologists, the blistering heat period in Spain and southern France should end on Tuesday next week at the earliest.
The heat alert is still in effect in 16 of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities. In the regions of Andalusia in the south and Extremadura in the west of the country, temperatures are expected to climb to 44 and 45 degrees Celsius in the shade. In Spain, only the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa are spared the extreme heat. The Spanish weather service announced that the heat wave would be one of the longest in terms of extent and length since records began in 1975.
Severe forest fires in France and Portugal
France is also saying that the current heat wave is particularly intense and long-lasting. The heat warning level is orange in eleven departments. Forest fires are still raging on the French Atlantic coast south of Bordeaux. In the meantime, more than 5300 hectares of land have fallen victim to the flames, and more than 10,000 people have been brought to safety.
According to civil protection, 13 major fires and dozens of smaller fires are still raging in Portugal. According to the ICNF, the blaze destroyed more than 25,000 hectares in just one week, which is about the size of 35,000 soccer fields. A total of around 38,600 hectares have already fallen victim to flames in Portugal this year – 35 percent more than in all of 2021.
Fire and state of emergency in Italy
Italy has been struggling with drought for weeks. The government therefore declared a state of emergency in five northern regions along the Po River, and other regions could follow. Bush and forest fires occur again and again. There is still a great risk of fire in Sicily and Sardinia.
Large forest fires have also broken out in South Tyrol and on Lake Garda. In South Tyrol, the fire brigade fought a major fire in the hiking area near Frauwaal during the night. The fires flared up again in the northern part of Lake Garda near the municipality of Nago Torbole, said a spokesman for the Autonomous Province of Trento. The fire brigade had previously been able to bring severe fires under control on Monte Baldo mountain in an area of around 45 hectares for several days.
consequences of climate change
In Greece, the fire brigade once again warns of a very high risk of forest fires in certain areas. The warning level four out of five applies to Athens and the surrounding area as well as the north-east of the Peloponnese peninsula and islands such as Crete, Lesbos and Samos. According to the rescue services, there have been 264 forest fires in the past seven days alone – there have been almost 2,500 since the start of the fire season in early May.
The World Meteorological Organization warned this week that the heatwave was spreading and intensifying across much of Europe. According to a UN report from February 2022, the number of extreme forest fires will increase by 30 percent in the next 28 years due to human-caused climate change.