MADRID: Temperatures were set to soar above 40 degrees Celsius across large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday as the Iberian Peninsula faces a second heat wave in less than a month.
The mercury was to hit 42 degrees Celsius in Spain’s southeastern region of Extremadura and 41 degrees in Andalusia, Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET said.
Temperatures in Spain’s normally cooler northwestern region of Galicia were predicted to rise above 35C.
“This heatwave really has the potential to be exceptional,” said AEMET spokesman Ruben del Campo.
The heat wave began on Sunday and could “last nine or ten days, which would make it one of the three longest heat waves Spain has seen since 1975,” he said.
Heat waves have become more likely due to climate change, scientists say. As global temperatures rise over time, heat waves are expected to become more frequent and intense.
June also saw Spain grapple with temperatures above 40C in swathes of the country. And the previous month was Spain’s hottest May since the beginning of the century.
In August 2021 Spain recorded its highest ever temperature when the mercury reached 47.4C in the southern town of Montoro.
In neighbouring Portugal the thermometer topped 44C over the weekend, fuelling wildfires and vast smoke clouds which were visible in the capital Lisbon.
Firefighters brought under control on Monday the largest blaze which was burning in the central municipality of Ourem, local officials said.
While temperatures eased somewhat in Portugal on Monday they were expected to soar again in the coming days with 44C forecast for the southeastern city of Evora.
Water reservoirs in Spain stood at 45.3 per cent of capacity on Monday, well below the average of 65.7 per cent recorded during this period over the past decade.
Meanwhile, there are 36 active forest fires in Portugal as of Monday, reported the country’s civil defence agency, adding to the country’s woes as it struggles with an extreme heatwave. The fires might have destroyed between 2,000 and 2,500 hectares. The threat has prompted authorities to put the entire country on the third-highest alert level.
Drought conditions and temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius have increased the risk of fires. The heatwave started on Saturday and is expected to last through at least Thursday.
The central Portuguese cities of Ourém and Pombal, we well as the northern community of Ribeira da Pena were among the worst-affected,with all three threatened by forest fires, according to state broadcaster RTP.
About 1,000 police officers, firefighters and members of the civil defence agency have been called out for those three blazes, with more than 700 around Ourém alone, where there are reports of homes and animals falling victims to the flames. – dpa
