The extreme and early heat wave that has been hitting southern and central Europe for the past few days, causing numerous forest fires, particularly near Berlin, is shifting towards eastern France and Switzerland on Sunday.
In northern Germany, the worst of the heat wave is over, but the rest of the country keep sweatingaccording to the public meteorological organization DWD.
Maximum temperatures on Saturday were between 30 and 37°C, where a high was observed for the stations of Waghäusel-Kirrlach (west), with 37.1°C. Today, peaks between 30 and 38°C are expected.
As a result of the hot weather, the fire that broke out on Friday in Brandenburg, near Berlin, has spread further, and now covers nearly 100 hectares.
three quarters from the town of Treuenbrietzen in the Brandenburg region were evacuated on Sunday, i.e. about 700 peoplea spokesman for the Potsdam-Mittelmark district told AFP.
According to local media, the fire ravaged around a hundred hectares in this wooded and rural region, around the municipality of Treuenbrietzen, where nearly 8,000 inhabitants live.
The multiplication of heat waves in Europe is a direct consequence of global warming. Greenhouse gas emissions increase the strength, duration and rate of repetition of heat waves, scientists say.
Red alert lifted in France
The French meteorological service lifted its red alert on Sunday morning on the 11 departments affected in the south-west, but 52 others remain placed in orange vigilance in the center and east of the country.
In Paris, the sweltering temperatures dropped sharply under the storm, with 16°C recorded at daybreak. But temperatures of 34 to 38 ° C are still expected on Sunday in the center and east of the country, with peaks of up to 39 ° C in Alsace, a region bordering Germany.
As a result of this heat wave combined with an already well-established drought, 600 hectares of vegetation went up in smoke in the Var (south), set ablaze by artillery fire on a military training camp.
Punctual thunderstorms were expected on the Atlantic coast, the beginnings of a deterioration expected for Sunday evening and which will allow the heat wave to gradually regress to no longer concern only the eastern flank of the countryaccording to Météo-France.
Rising temperatures in Switzerland
In neighboring Switzerland, the heat wave also continues with a peak expected today. After the first monthly heat records recorded on Saturday, temperatures will rise a few more degrees todaysaid MeteoSwiss.
Around 12:00 GMT, temperatures were already between 32 and 34°C, 1 to 4°C higher than Saturday at the same time. The 35°C mark has already been reached in Geneva.
Neuchâtel (west) notably broke its record with 34.7°C against a previous record of 34.1°C in 2019.
After this heat peak today, temperatures will drop slightly, but will remain at a scorching level on Monday and Tuesday.
A slight improvement in Spain
In Spain, temperatures were already starting to drop in most of the country, with mercury expected to reach only 29°C in Madrid on Sunday and 25°C in the province of Zamora (northwest).
But the country was still grappling with forest fires, the largest of which has already destroyed more than 25,000 hectares in the Sierra de la Culebra, a mountain range in the Castile and Leon region, near the border with the Portugal, according to regional authorities.
The fire, which broke out on Wednesday during stormy and dry weather, had forced the authorities to evacuate 14 villages, where several hundred people live.
They were allowed to return home on Sunday morning as the situation improved, local officials said.
Several roads have been reopened and a high-speed rail link between Madrid and the northwestern region of Galicia, which was closed on Saturday due to the fires, has also been reopened, they added.
Elsewhere in the country, smaller forest fires were also raging in the region of Catalonia (north-west) and in the region of Navarre (north), one of the few regions in Spain where temperatures remained exceptionally high on Sunday.
The regional government of Navarre has urged the population to avoid unnecessary trips to keep the roads clear for fire crews.
We have a very difficult few hours ahead of ustold the press the director of the Ministry of the Interior of Navarre, Amparo Lopez Antelo.
Spanish firefighters also continued to fight several fires in Catalonia and Navarre.
Temperatures above 40C have been recorded in Spain throughout the week, but fell across most of the country on Sunday.
The current wave arrived from the Maghreb via the Iberian Peninsula.
France Media Agency
Source: Radio-Canada
