A European-wide heatwave is fueling flames in Portugal, France, and Spain.
Approximately 3,500 firemen in Portugal are battling dozens of fires as temperatures in various parts of the nation exceed records.
The worst situation was recorded in Leiria, where 600 people were displaced.
It has brought up memories of 2017’s catastrophic wildfires, which took more than 100 lives.
Due to climate change, heatwaves have grown more common, intense, and long-lasting. Since the beginning of the industrial age, the earth has warmed by around 1.1°C.
A 77-year-old farmer in Leiria, Adelino Rodrigues, stated that “everything burned.”
Officials say a corpse was discovered in a charred area in the northern district of Aveiro.
According to Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, Thursday will see the warmest temperatures.
Approximately 1,000 firefighters are attempting to contain two big wildfires in France.
The fires in the southwest of the country have already consumed about 4,000 hectares of land.
The majority of Spain was placed on high alert on Wednesday, and the national meteorological office AEMET said that several sections were “suffocating.” On Wednesday, the village of Almonte in Andalusia recorded a temperature of 45.6 degrees Celsius.
Thursday will likely be the warmest day of the year in Spain.
More than 70,300 hectares burned in Spain between 1 January and 3 July, according to the government, which is nearly double the 10-year average.
In Turkey, more than 3,000 people have been evacuated due to a wildfire in the Datca peninsula in the southwest.
The past week in Europe has been marked by increasing temperatures.
Tuesday is expected to be the hottest day of the week in the United Kingdom, with highs of 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
