In Greece, two of the three forest fires are largely under control. However, a new heat wave is looming. The weather has now changed in the Balkans: At least five people died as a result of the storm.
Breathe a sigh of relief in Greece – the forest fires that have been raging for days have been largely contained on the mainland, according to the authorities. A fire near Loutraki – west of the capital Athens – which led to mass evacuations earlier in the week has been brought under control, the fire department said.
In the Dervenochoria region north of the capital there are also smaller sources of fire, which it is hoped will be extinguished during the day, a spokesman for the fire brigade told the radio station “Skai”. Emergency services remained on site – even in the event that the flames flared up again.
On Rhodes, on the other hand, the forest fire continues to rage in the middle of the holiday island. The situation is a little better than the day before, but the impassable terrain with trees up to 15 meters high makes extinguishing work difficult, the state broadcaster ERT reported.
Persistently high risk of forest fires
Despite the fires on the mainland that have been contained for the time being, the all-clear is not in sight. Although the previously strong winds have subsided, the authorities continue to warn of the high risk of fire due to the persistent heat and drought. Fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis spoke of a very high risk, especially in the region around Athens, in Attica, on the island of Crete and on the Peloponnese peninsula.
The Greek weather service predicted the start of a second heat wave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. On Friday it could even be 44 degrees hot.
Spain: peaks at water temperature
Other countries also continue to suffer from severe heat. France recorded temperatures of up to 40 degrees in the south of the country. On the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma, hundreds of firefighters have been fighting a fire that has already destroyed 4500 hectares of land since Saturday. 4000 people had to be evacuated. The fire is now largely under control, it said.
It is also hot on the Spanish mainland – and the sea is also warming up rapidly. As reported by the Spanish weather service, the average water temperature off Spain’s coasts was 24.6 degrees in mid-July, 2.2 degrees above the average. Since records began in mid-July in 1940, such a high average temperature has not been measured in the sea.
Continued heat in southern Italy
In northern Italy, the “Caronte” high pressure area is losing strength, said meteorologist Antonio Sanò from the private weather service ilmeteo.it. In the south of Italy, however, the hot temperatures continue. Although a slight drop in temperature will be felt in these regions, according to Sanò, this will hardly be noticeable given the already high temperatures.
According to forecasts, the Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily could soon break Europe’s heat record of 48.8 degrees, which was measured in Sicily in August 2021. From Rome, where 40 degrees were measured, many people fled to the sea.
Five dead in storms in the Balkans
The weather has changed in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia. At least five people lost their lives as a result of violent thunderstorms with heavy rain and gusty winds.
According to police and media reports, at least four people were killed by falling trees in Croatia, two of them in the capital Zagreb. A construction crane also overturned and the crane operator was injured. Emergency services cleared streets in Zagreb that were blocked by fallen trees and power poles. The authorities warned residents and vacationers not to enter parks and forests. Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said the storm was unprecedented “both in terms of strength and damage.”
In neighboring Slovenia, a person was also killed by a falling tree near Lake Bled, a popular tourist destination, according to local media reports. There was also one fatality in Brcko in northern Bosnia. So far it is unclear whether there was a connection with the storm.
More heat waves because of climate change
Extreme heat waves are increasing due to climate change. The earth has already warmed up by about 1.1 degrees compared to pre-industrial times, in Germany it is even 1.6 degrees. According to research by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the fatal consequences are: depending on the region, more and longer heat waves and droughts or more frequent floods and hurricanes. Weather service spokesman Aemet Ruben del Campo said: “One thing is clear: climate change is increasing extreme weather events.”