The alert did not cease within the Iberian Peninsula this Wednesday, August 9. The peak of heat seems to have been reached in Spain, when Portugal finds itself facing particularly devastating fires with several thousand hectares burned. Both countries could break temperature records, because of this global warming.
This episode of heat wave, the third of the summer, should reach its peak this Wednesday in Spain, with a mercury which could go up to 44 ° C in places, according to the National Meteorological Agency (Aemet). She announced that this heat wave would surely end on Friday and not Thursday as originally planned.
“The average temperature reached in Spain on Wednesday will likely set a record for that date since 1950. It will likely be one of the five hottest days for an August in the past 73 years,” Aemet predicts. Eleven provinces are on red alert, synonymous with extreme danger: three in Andalusia (South), two in the Madrid region, two in Castile-La Mancha (center), three in the Basque Country (North) and one in Castile and Leon (North).
Almost all of the rest of the country, except its coasts, is on alert but at lower levels. Experts consider the multiplication of these heat waves, as well as their increasing duration and intensity, as consequences of climate change.
In Portugal, the heat and the wind have favored the progression of fires having decimated more than 15,000 hectares in recent days. The blaze in the Odemira region (South), which has already ravaged nearly 10,000 hectares according to a latest civil protection report, continues to progress for the fifth consecutive day, mobilizing nearly 1,100 firefighters supported by 11 aircraft, according to the National Civil Protection Authority. Nearly 1,500 people were evacuated.
However, firefighters are hoping for an improvement in the situation on Wednesday thanks to better weather conditions. Forecasts predict an increase in air humidity and a drop in temperatures, particularly on the coast, where they should drop below 30°C. In addition, dozens of Spanish firefighters are still battling the flames in Extremadura (South-West), neighboring region of Portugal, with the help of more than ten aircraft.
The regional government indicated that the evolution of the fire, which broke out on Monday in the municipality of Valencia de Alcántara, was “favorable” on Wednesday morning. A first assessment counts 350 hectares affected, which makes it the third largest fire in recent days in Spain, after a forest fire which burned 573 hectares in Portbou, in Catalonia (North-East) and another which has assigned 450 near Bonares, Andalusia (South).
