weather
Heat and fires in southern Europe – midsummer in Germany
Temperatures will climb again in Germany. Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
While parts of southern Europe are suffering from forest fires, drought and heat up to 44 degrees, record high summer temperatures are in sight in Germany. However, the Environment Minister urges preparations.
Extreme and persistent heat in Spain and Portugal, devastating drought in Italy, massive fires in France: Although the temperatures in parts of Germany rise to midsummer 34 degrees, the German Weather Service (DWD) warns against scaremongering, also given the difficult situation in southern Europe.
Spain in particular is currently being hit by scorching heat. The Aemet weather service issued an alarm on Wednesday for 16 of the 17 autonomous communities in the popular holiday destination. It was “hell”, wrote the newspaper “El País”. According to Aemet, this second heat wave of the year in Spain is likely to be one of the longest since records began in 1975.
It should be particularly hot on Wednesday with temperatures of up to 44 degrees in Andalusia in the south and in Extremadura in the west of the country. In combination with a drought that has lasted for weeks and strong winds, the heat is promoting the outbreak and spread of forest fires. The current worst fire continued to rage in the community of Las Hurdes near the border with Portugal. In the neighboring country, the fire brigade and civil defense also fought forest fires at times well above 40 degrees, especially in the center of the country.
Flames on the Atlantic coast
On the French Atlantic coast, emergency services brought thousands of people to safety from the spreading flames. On Wednesday morning, five campsites near Teste-de-Buch, south of the city of Bordeaux, were evacuated as a precaution. 6,000 people were relocated to other places, as announced by the Gironde prefecture. Temperatures of 37 degrees were expected in the area.
The Italian fire brigade in the Tuscan province of Massa Carrara on the border with Liguria was fighting flames on a hard-to-reach hill on Wednesday, the Tuscan authorities said. The fire brigade in South Tyrol was also busy extinguishing a forest fire in Bozen on Wednesday.
According to the DWD forecast, the temperature in Germany should rise to 34 degrees in the southwest. Otherwise, with 25 to 31 degrees, a warm to hot summer day can be expected almost everywhere except for the coastal region. And the prospects for the coming days remain summery.
Keep it dry and warm
Sun and clouds are likely to alternate on Thursday, but it will mostly remain dry and warm. With temperatures between 22 and 28 degrees, it cools down only slightly, in the south and southwest it could even get hot up to 35 degrees. Thunderstorms are not excluded, especially in the mountains. At least the weather forecast for the next seven days gives no indication that the 40-degree mark will be reached and that previous temperature records could shake, said a DWD spokesman.
Meanwhile, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke emphasized the need for better preparation for heat and drought in Germany. “In the meantime, due to the consequences of the climate crisis, so many really hot days have arrived in Germany that this poses a threat to nature and also to us humans,” said the Greens politician on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday. Lemke wants to present a national water strategy by the end of the year.
The Environment Minister emphasized that the drinking water supply is currently secured. “Nobody has to do without drinking water, and at the moment you don’t have to do without showers because there isn’t enough water. But we have to take precautions because science tells us that such drought events, heat events, will occur more frequently and become more extreme.”