Thousands of firefighters have recently fought hard against forest fires in Portugal, Spain and southwestern France.
On Friday afternoon, even more people witnessed larger areas of land being eaten by the flames.
More than 3,000 people have so far been evacuated from the Sierra De Mijas in Malaga after the flames engulfed a forest area on Friday afternoon. About 300 firefighters have so far been deployed in an attempt to suffocate the flames.
It reports the Spanish local newspaper The country.
On Saturday, it was also reported that Sabadell Airport outside Barcelona was closed due to the forest fires in the area.
TV 2 has been in contact with a number of holidaying Norwegians near the area. Many describe it as unreal.
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Great disaster
The scorching hot temperatures lay the foundation for dry landscapes that are easily ignited.
In France, the degrees have so far reached 40 degrees, and they are expected to rise even more.
Parts of the Gironde region in France have experienced this. More than 12,000 people have fled their homes there.
A local resident is said to have described the sea of flames as a post-apocalyptic feeling, according to BBC.
“I’ve never seen this before,” Karyn, who lives near Teste-de-Buch, told AFP.
Thousands of firefighters are working to fight the flames, which have so far reduced nearly 10,000 hectares to ashes.
– FLAMES: The photo was taken from the south of France and was taken on Saturday. Photo: AP / NTB
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Prohibition of forest visits
The forested hills of the Leiria district of Portugal have also been hit hard by forest fires.
Five of the country’s regions are on red alert after the degree showed 47 degrees on Thursday.
In addition to large forces from the fire service, parts of the civilian population have also taken part in the firefighting work. This in the hope of saving their homes from the flames.
Nevertheless, almost 1,000 people have been evacuated and at least 60 people have been injured after the fire.
On Friday, it became known that a pilot lost his life in the battle to fight the flames from a firefighting aircraft in Portugal. The plane crashed near Vila Nove de Foz Coa in the north of the country.
The heat wave does not escape
Hundreds of people have already lost their lives as a result of the heat. This number will probably increase as the heat wave spreads.
On Friday, the British authorities, among other things, went out and declared a state of national crisis as a result of the extreme heat that has hit the country, British media reports.
This happened shortly after the country’s meteorological institute issued a heat alarm. This means that the high temperatures reach a point where life and health are in danger.
It has according to BBC never happened before. And means that people will have to change their daily lives.
Temperatures will be able to reach 40 degrees in several parts of the country.
– EXTINGUISHES: A helicopter transports water to an area that is burning not far from residential buildings in Malaga on Saturday. Photo: Gregorio Marrero / AP / NTB
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Needs change
Climate researcher and director at the Nansen Center, Tore Furvik, is not particularly surprised by the situation in Europe.
– It’s as expected. When you get heat and drought for a long time, forests and vegetation are very exposed to fire, he says.
And it will get worse, according to Furvik. He says that it will be even drier and even more heat waves in the years to come.
– There has been a strong increase in forest fires in the last three or four years in Southern Europe, he says.
In addition to the fires in Europe, there have been many forest fires in both the United States and Australia in recent years.
– AS WAITED: A climate researcher believes that it is as expected that forest fires occur when the climate gets warmer and it does not rain for a long time. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / NTB
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– It is a global pattern with less precipitation and warmer temperatures in summer.
This is probably the clearest signal of climate change, and there is nothing to do but reduce emissions, according to the climate researcher.
He also believes it is likely that people will eventually have to prepare for the fact that some areas will no longer be habitable.
With this he points especially to areas with a lot of forest.
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