ATHENS/LONDON: Emergency services warned on Wednesday as areas of southern Europe battling wildfires amid mass evacuations. London After Britain’s hottest day, the fight against climate change needs to intensify.
Gale-force winds ignited fires in the mountains north of Athens, forcing the evacuation of hundreds, including hospital patients, and a similar number fled to central Italy as in a forest fire near the Tuscan city of Lucca. Gas tanks exploded.
A record-breaking heatwave, widely attributed by scientists and climate scientists to global warming, settled in southern Europe last week. While the brutal temperatures that came out of it have come down, mercury readings have started rising again in Portugal and Spain.
Armando Silva, the civil defense commander for Portugal’s northern region, said rising temperatures and strong winds would make the country’s biggest battle difficult. Forest fireWhich has burned 10,000–12,000 hectares (38–46 sq mi) in and around Murka Municipality since Sunday.
In Spain, where emergency teams were dealing with fires in five areas, the national weather service AEMET also forecast higher temperatures.
Wildfires also raged in many parts of Italy, and 14 cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence, were to be placed on the country’s highest heatwave alert on Thursday, up from nine on Wednesday.
Forecasters there said temperatures are expected to reach 40C in a part of the north and center this week.
Britain topped the mark for the first time on Tuesday, breaking the country’s previous temperature record by 1.6 degrees Celsius.
Head of Science and Technology of the UK Meteorological Office, Stephen BelcherThe country could see a similar heatwave every three years unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, the U.S. said.
mayor of london Sadiq KhanA member of the opposition Labor Party also issued a similar warning.
“The sad reality is that the future for London and the UK is likely to look like this, if we do not take strong action on the climate crisis now,” he said.
treasury minister simon clarke said Tuesday’s “remarkable, unprecedented” record serves as “a reminder of the importance of tackling climate change…”.
British engineers raced Wednesday to fix train tracks that were caught in the heat after firefighters, who ended their busiest day since World War Two in London on Tuesday, extinguished wildfires. Worked all night to extinguish.
high winds
In the south on the European mainland, large wildfires continued to flare up.
In Greece, thick clouds of smoke darkened the sky on Mount Panteli, 27 km (16 mi) north of Athens, where some 500 firefighters, 120 fire engines and 15 water-carrying aircraft tried to extinguish the fire. Which started on Tuesday and continued to burn on many fronts.
Officials said they have evacuated nine settlements. A hospital and the Athens National Observatory were also evacuated and police helped to evacuate at least 600 residents from the fire-affected areas.
“Due to the intensity and speed of the winds, the fire changed direction continuously throughout the night,” fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said in a televised statement.
Strong winds are forecast for Wednesday afternoon.
Last year, wildfires devastated nearly 300,000 acres (about 470 square miles) of forest and bush in various parts of Greece as the country experienced its worst summer in 30 years.
In Italy, firefighters in the central region of Tuscany battled wildfires for the third day near the city of Lucca, destroying about 560 hectares (2.15 square miles) of forest, officials said.
The region’s governor, Eugenio Gianni, said on Twitter that around 500 people were forced to evacuate in the night as flames reached some villages and exploded some liquefied gas tanks. “Some fronts have strengthened because of the wind,” he said.
Residents were urged to stay indoors after heavy smoke from forest fires that started on Tuesday in the Karso region, bordering Croatia and Slovenia, in the northeastern Friuli Venezia Giulia region.
This forced state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri to close its plant in the port city of Monfalcone, which employs 3,000 people.
in France, where firefighters in the southwest Girond Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said more money needed to be invested to tackle such threats, in a region that has been battling heavy wildfires since July 12.
“We are faced with a very extraordinary situation,” he said, referring to the damage in Brittany and southern France.
President Emmanuel Macron The Gironde was due to visit the region on Wednesday as local officials said weather conditions had improved as France’s heatwave moved east, helping douse the flames.
Gale-force winds ignited fires in the mountains north of Athens, forcing the evacuation of hundreds, including hospital patients, and a similar number fled to central Italy as in a forest fire near the Tuscan city of Lucca. Gas tanks exploded.
A record-breaking heatwave, widely attributed by scientists and climate scientists to global warming, settled in southern Europe last week. While the brutal temperatures that came out of it have come down, mercury readings have started rising again in Portugal and Spain.
Armando Silva, the civil defense commander for Portugal’s northern region, said rising temperatures and strong winds would make the country’s biggest battle difficult. Forest fireWhich has burned 10,000–12,000 hectares (38–46 sq mi) in and around Murka Municipality since Sunday.
In Spain, where emergency teams were dealing with fires in five areas, the national weather service AEMET also forecast higher temperatures.
Wildfires also raged in many parts of Italy, and 14 cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence, were to be placed on the country’s highest heatwave alert on Thursday, up from nine on Wednesday.
Forecasters there said temperatures are expected to reach 40C in a part of the north and center this week.
Britain topped the mark for the first time on Tuesday, breaking the country’s previous temperature record by 1.6 degrees Celsius.
Head of Science and Technology of the UK Meteorological Office, Stephen BelcherThe country could see a similar heatwave every three years unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, the U.S. said.
mayor of london Sadiq KhanA member of the opposition Labor Party also issued a similar warning.
“The sad reality is that the future for London and the UK is likely to look like this, if we do not take strong action on the climate crisis now,” he said.
treasury minister simon clarke said Tuesday’s “remarkable, unprecedented” record serves as “a reminder of the importance of tackling climate change…”.
British engineers raced Wednesday to fix train tracks that were caught in the heat after firefighters, who ended their busiest day since World War Two in London on Tuesday, extinguished wildfires. Worked all night to extinguish.
high winds
In the south on the European mainland, large wildfires continued to flare up.
In Greece, thick clouds of smoke darkened the sky on Mount Panteli, 27 km (16 mi) north of Athens, where some 500 firefighters, 120 fire engines and 15 water-carrying aircraft tried to extinguish the fire. Which started on Tuesday and continued to burn on many fronts.
Officials said they have evacuated nine settlements. A hospital and the Athens National Observatory were also evacuated and police helped to evacuate at least 600 residents from the fire-affected areas.
“Due to the intensity and speed of the winds, the fire changed direction continuously throughout the night,” fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said in a televised statement.
Strong winds are forecast for Wednesday afternoon.
Last year, wildfires devastated nearly 300,000 acres (about 470 square miles) of forest and bush in various parts of Greece as the country experienced its worst summer in 30 years.
In Italy, firefighters in the central region of Tuscany battled wildfires for the third day near the city of Lucca, destroying about 560 hectares (2.15 square miles) of forest, officials said.
The region’s governor, Eugenio Gianni, said on Twitter that around 500 people were forced to evacuate in the night as flames reached some villages and exploded some liquefied gas tanks. “Some fronts have strengthened because of the wind,” he said.
Residents were urged to stay indoors after heavy smoke from forest fires that started on Tuesday in the Karso region, bordering Croatia and Slovenia, in the northeastern Friuli Venezia Giulia region.
This forced state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri to close its plant in the port city of Monfalcone, which employs 3,000 people.
in France, where firefighters in the southwest Girond Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said more money needed to be invested to tackle such threats, in a region that has been battling heavy wildfires since July 12.
“We are faced with a very extraordinary situation,” he said, referring to the damage in Brittany and southern France.
President Emmanuel Macron The Gironde was due to visit the region on Wednesday as local officials said weather conditions had improved as France’s heatwave moved east, helping douse the flames.