A firefighter creates a tactical fire in Louchats, as wildfires continue to spread in the Gironde region of southwestern France, July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Capitals: Many Western European countries continued their efforts to combat the devastating forest fires that have been going for days as a result of a heat wave that is expected to continue until the coming days, especially after temperatures exceeded record levels in France and Britain.
In France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, fires ravaged thousands of hectares and forced thousands of residents and tourists to flee, while the death of many fire service members was recorded last week.
In southwestern France, the fires continued to expand in the mountains, and burned about 11,000 hectares of forests since Tuesday, at a time when the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) expected that Monday would be the hottest in the countrys history, exceeding 40s in several regions, including Brittany, Normandy, Aquitaine and west Occitanie.
In Spain, 20 wildfires are still raging out of control in different parts of the country, from the south to the far northwest.
On the other hand, Portugal witnessed calm after difficult days on the fire front, especially since temperatures did not exceed for the first time since July 8 40 degrees Celsius, yet almost all Portuguese lands were exposed to fires based on extreme or very high or high risks, particularly the central and northern interior.
The heat wave in Europe is the second of its kind within a month, and experts attribute its causes to climate warming, with the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, in terms of intensity, duration and frequency.
