The latest forest fires in France, Spain, and Portugal have already devastated more than 17,000 hectares of land amid the ongoing heatwave in the region. This is reported by Le Monde, writes UNN.
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On Sunday, July 5, hundreds of firefighters continue to battle forest fires in France, Spain, and Portugal, as temperatures in heat-stricken Europe rose again.
The latest forest fires have already devastated more than 17,000 hectares of land — twice the size of Manhattan (a district of New York) — in the three countries, where temperatures in some places are forecast to reach up to 40ºC on Sunday.
It is noted that a fire near the northeastern coast of Costa Brava in Spain has devastated more than 2,200 hectares of land.
Meanwhile, nearly 600 French firefighters have been mobilized to contain a forest fire that has engulfed more than 1,000 hectares on the slope of Mount Trevillach, about 36 kilometers east of the southern city of Perpignan.
Another 300 French firefighters are battling another forest fire in the mountainous region of the southeastern department of Drôme.
In Portugal, emergency services said they had managed to bring 80% of a forest fire under control that devastated about 13,000 hectares of forests and scrubland in the north of the country.
Spain and Italy sent reinforcements and water-dropping aircraft after Portugal requested help in fighting the fire, which injured nine people.
According to a group of scientists from the international initiative World Weather Attribution, Western Europe already experienced heatwaves in May and June this year that would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change.
Firefighters in southern France are battling a forest fire after a heatwave02.07.26, 11:33