Extreme heat in parts of Spain and France is giving way to storms and flood warnings, while Greece is bracing for more blazes after the huge wildfire near Athens was brought under control.
Orange alerts are in place for a swath of Europe from southeast Spain to the Swiss Alps as thunderstorms bring the risk of flash floods. Parts of the French Pyrenees could see 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain on Wednesday.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including heat waves, violent storms and wildfires. Countries around the Mediterranean Sea — which reached a record average temperature of 28.16C (82.7F) on Tuesday — are some of the most severely impacted as fossil fuel emissions warm the planet.
@VigiMeteofrance 14 août
Pour mercredi 14 août 2024 :
🔶 8 départements en Vigilance orange
Pour jeudi 15 août 2024 :
🔶 3 départements en Vigilance orange
Restez prudents et informés :https://t.co/JGz4rTUvHP pic.twitter.com/0g42Uuw4eb
— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) August 14, 2024
Red heat warnings are still in place for some of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations, including Sardinia, Tuscany and Puglia. Heat alerts are also in place across the Balkans.
In Kosovo, the health ministry has banned outside construction work between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the rest of this week as temperatures soar to 37C. It’s also encouraging companies to let employees start work earlier or work from home.
⛈️Se están produciendo tormentas en el Mediterráneo, que tocan tierra en zonas de Cataluña, Comunitat Valenciana y Baleares.
Animación con los rayos detectados hoy hasta las 10:40 horas (puntos azules) y la densidad de rayos prevista para todo el día (cuadros de colores) pic.twitter.com/DtFF5jCgFq
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) August 14, 2024
Greece is enjoying a brief respite from the wildfires that seared the Attica region around Athens earlier in the week, but temperatures and winds are forecast to pick up from Thursday.
Most of the country remains on high alert, with the northern mainland and north Aegean islands on very high alert. A blaze that started more than two weeks ago on Mount Orvilos, on the border with Bulgaria, is still burning.
#EMSR746
Our #MappingTeam has released the 2nd Delineation Product for the #wildfire near #Athens 🇬🇷
As of 13 August, 09:33 UTC, the following was detected:
➡️ A total burnt area of 10,409 ha (+1,815 ha in 24 hrs)
➡️ Active flames reduced to 5 from 168 in the past 24 hrs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DsTZk6XKMn
— Copernicus EMS (@CopernicusEMS) August 14, 2024
Attention is now turning to a long-term strategy to address the environmental threat posed by the fires.
“This is a total effort in a time of great climate crisis,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after visiting pilots from Greece and other European nations helping to fight the wildfires. “And from any failure of ours, or from any fire that gets out of control, always look to learn what we can do better.”
Photograph: A firefighting helicopter collects water from the sea east of Athens on Aug. 13, 2024. Photo credit: Ioana Epure/Bloomberg
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