Eight places in Portugal have broken local temperature records and officials predict the scorching temperatures could get even worse over the weekend.
A man sunbathes as others cool off in Tagus River at Ribeira das Naus in Lisbon. Photo: AFP
Temperatures built to around 45 degrees Celsius on Friday (local time) in many inland areas of Portugal, and were expected to peak at 47°C in some places on Saturday. Large sections of Portugal are on red alert on the Civil Protection Agency's danger scale.
The highest temperature recorded on Thursday, when the heat began to rise, was 45.2°C near Abrantes, a town 150 kilometres north-east of the capital, Lisbon, the country's weather agency IPMA said.
Portugal's highest recorded temperature was 47.4°C, in 2003.
Emergency services have issued a red alert through Sunday placing extra services such as medical staff and firefighters on standby.
More than 740 firefighters battled a forest fire in southern Portugal throughout Saturday as the temperatures climbed to near record highs.
Seeking to prevent more deaths after 114 people were killed in two massive forest blazes last year in Portugal, civil protection sent mobile text alerts warning the population of an extreme risk of fires in some regions, including around the capital Lisbon. In Greece, a wildfire killed 91 people last month.
In the coastal resort area of Cascais, outside Lisbon, a power network overload due to heavy use of air conditioning caused a blackout on Friday night, leaving tens of thousands of people without power for several hours and shutting a large shopping mall. In Lisbon, temperatures reached 43°C on Friday.
The blaze began on Saturday in the hilly Monchique area of the southern Algarve region, popular with tourists. Authorities evacuated two villages in the area and 10 water-carrying aircraft were being used to fight the flames.
In Portugal's southern Alentejo province, streets were largely deserted. Some farmers chose to work during the night instead of in the heat of the day. Beaches around Lisbon, the capital, were packed.
Some 400 firefighters and five water-dropping aircraft, meanwhile, were battling a wildfire in southern Portugal's Algarve region.
Portugal has large bushfires every year, although unseasonably cool weather through the end of July has meant fewer blazes in 2018. The Government says only about 15 percent of the 10-year average area has been charred so far this year.
A female orangutan covers her head with a sheet on a warm summer day at Madrid´s zoo Photo: AFP or licensors
Europe hit with extreme weather
Temperatures were being driven higher across the Iberian peninsula by a hot air mass moving north from Africa, which is also bringing dust from the Sahara Desert, meteorologists said. The dust gave the sky a dark yellow hue in some places.
In Spain, heat warnings were also issued for 41 of the country's 50 provinces as temperatures were expected to reach up to 44°C . Spain's highest recorded temperature is 46.9°C in Cordoba, a southern city, in July 2017.
Temperatures in Spain and Portugal will remain above 40°C at least until Sunday.
The World Meteorological Organisation says continental Europe's record is 48°C in Greece in 1977.
In northern Europe, Sweden was still under threat from bushfires, which in recent weeks have extended into the Arctic Circle.
Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency warned of "a high risk" for wildfires in central and southern Sweden this weekend because of the continuing dry weather and strong winds.
In the Netherlands, the longest drought in decades has been drying out rivers and affecting farmers in Germany. Wheat fields have been devastated across northern Europe, driving up prices.
And over in Britain, an unusually long, torrid summer has taken its toll on the country's flowers. The supermarket chain Morrisons has begun selling "wonky" flowers that have not developed properly.
The United Kingdom's Met Office weather service says July was the country's third-warmest month in more than a century.
Temperatures approached 30°C this week in Finland, where the August average is 19°C . With few air-conditioned homes in the country, a supermarket in Helsinki invited 100 customers to sleep in its air-conditioned store on Saturday.
In Moscow, as temperatures rose to close to 30°C , city authorities announced they were opening hundreds of "cool rooms" where residents could rest amid air conditioning, with water dispensers and medical attendants.
Although that temperature is far below the blazing heat hitting southern Europe, it's well above the Russian capital's average August maximum of 23°C .
- ABC
