– Feels post-apocalyptic – VG

Thousands of people have been evacuated, many injured and several more killed in connection with the wildfires that have engulfed several heatwave-affected countries around the Mediterranean.

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Wildfires in Portugal, Spain, France, Croatia, Hungary, Greece and Italy have engulfed Europe this week. In northern Africa, Morocco is affected, and on the other side of the world, China is also struggling with forest fires. The fire broke out in connection with a heat wave in the area.

Portugal

On Friday night, a pilot who flew a water bomber over a forest fire in Torre de Moncorvo in Portugal died. The plane crashed in Foz Coa, and according to Reuters The local news agency stated that the pilot was pronounced dead on the spot. Prime Minister Antonio Costa extends condolences to relatives via Twitter.

Check out a series of photos of some of the forest fires here:

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Firefighters in the village of Ancede in Baiao, Portugal on Friday.

based on BBC Portugal’s health authorities have reported 238 more deaths than usual since July 7. This death they associate with heat and drought.

Early Friday, there were more than 30 active fires in the drought-hit country. based on AP More than 3,000 firefighters reacted on the fire.

Deutsche Welle (DW) writes that five counties have heat alerts. Portugal has experienced a heatwave since the beginning of this week. On Thursday, temperatures hit 47 degrees in Pinhao, and the fires through Thursday claimed one human life and injured about 135. About 900 were evacuated on Thursday. Forest fires so far this year have destroyed 30,000 hectares of land this year.

FIGHTING AGAINST FIRE: A police firefighter around the village of Ancede in Baiao Norway in Portugal on Friday.

A group of students at Oxford University vacationing in Portugal were among those evacuated on the Algarve coast.

– I ran down the street for a living with the fire following the car as we drove out, Millie Farley (22) told BBC Friday.

João Anastácio, 63, told the Daily Mail that he covered himself with a wet towel when the fire broke out outside his home in Ansião.

– It looks like a demon. Everything around my house caught fire, he said.

France

DW also reported that several hundred more were evacuated from bushfires in Spain and France on Friday.

– We are having a very difficult season, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday during a visit to the government’s crisis management center in Paris, writing AP.

The president stated that three times more forests burned in the country so far this year than in 2020.

16 regions of France have orange heat warning, while 26 had a yellow notice on Saturday. On Monday it was reported to be up to 40 degrees.

HOT: Weather forecaster Météo France reported these temperatures on Monday.

Since Tuesday, more than 3,000 firefighters and ten water bombers have tried to tame two large wildfires in the Gironde district in the southeast of the country. based on BBC more than 12,000 have been evacuated. About 10,000 hectares have burned since Tuesday.

Also on a Friday it was about 40 degrees in the south of France.

Residents of Karyn in Cazaux, who received evacuation orders on Thursday, told AFP news agency:

– I’ve never seen this before, and it feels post-apocalyptic.

Forest fires also broke out north of Paris.

Spanish

In Spanish writes El Pais Saturday that emergency services battled 33 wildfires, 14 of which were out of control.

About 2,300 people have been evacuated from the bushfires in Mijas in the southeast of the country, inland from Malaga. On Thursday, a new wildfire broke out near Monfrague National Park, which is famous for its wildlife.

Temperatures hit 45.4 degrees in Spain on Thursday, according to France 24. By then at least 3500 hectares had burned.

based on AFP burned more than 70,300 hectares of forest in Spain between January 1 and July 3. Authorities state that it has almost doubled the average in the last ten years.

Moroccan authorities have stated that one person found dead with burns in the north of the country in connection with forest fires. More than 1100 families have been evacuated from about 15 villages in the northwest of the country. Since Wednesday, at least 1,600 hectares have burned.

On Wednesday, a helicopter helping with forest fires on the Greek island of Samos crashed. The Coast Guard reported that the helicopter crashed in the Aegean Sea, according to AFP. Two crew members lost their lives.

Climate change

Wildfires have so far not been reported in the UK, but on Friday the country declared a national crisis after sending out a red-hot alert for the first time. On Monday and Tuesday, the temperature should be able to reach 40 degrees. Then health authorities reported that there could be danger to life, health and infrastructure.

Italy has also declared a state of emergency in the Po Valley.

Researchers believe that climate change is the cause of intense and frequent wildfires around the world.

Sheila Vega

"Social media guru. Total beer fanatic. Tv ninja. Typical coffee fan. Amateur entrepreneur. Unapologetic food scholar."

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