Sweltering heatwave raises wildfire risk in Portugal, Spain

Soaring temperatures in Portugalforced authorities to place more than half the country on alert on Tuesday and to deploy hundreds of firefighters to combatblazes erupting in the central region amid a heatwave that alsoswept across Spain.

With temperatures above 40 Cin many parts, a major wildfire that started last week in theSantarem area north of Lisbon was reignited on Tuesday due tostrong winds. Another blaze nearby caused the closure of the twomain highways connecting Lisbon to the northern city of Porto.

Around 1,600 firefighters backed by 430 vehicles and 25aircraft were tackling 19 active blazes, according to the civilprotection website, as the red alert, the highest level,signaled an extremely hazardous weather situation.

Neighbouring Spain was also facing a high risk of wildfires,with the regions of Extremadura, Castille and Leon the mainconcerns, authorities said. The northwestern province of Orensewas on red alert as temperatures were expected to reach 42 C.

"It is indeed a season with more heat than other years it's hard," said Edison Vladimir, a 42-year-old delivery worker inMadrid.

In the Portuguese capital, which is buzzing with tourists,people were trying to keep cool by drinking water, eating icecream or heading to the riverside or nearby beaches.

At a small beach area by the river Tagus, a British coupleand their toddler enjoyed the morning sunshine before it got toohot to be out.

"We kept an eye on the weather before we came, and we knewit was going to be hot it's quite similar back in the U.K. butwe don't have air con there," 28-year-old Megan Slancey said.

Britain's Met Office has issued an extreme heat warning astemperatures continue to increase this week and early next weekin much of England and Wales.

Clare Nullis, a World Meteorological Organisationspokesperson, told a UNbriefing on Tuesday that although theheatwave, Europe's second this year, was mainly affectingPortugal and Spain, it was likely to spread elsewhere.

"It is affecting large parts of Europe and it willintensify," Nullis said.

With human-caused climate change triggering droughts, thenumber of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 30 per centwithinthe next 28 years, according to a February 2022 UNreport.

"You definitely see that the weather has changed over thelast few years," said 51-year-old Paul de Almeida, a SouthAfrican visiting Lisbon. "We have to take actions to solve it."