Temperatures across the continent are expected to continue to soar further as a European heatwave intensifies, the result of an “enormous” reservoir of warm air drawn from northern Africa, dubbed a Saharan Bubble.
Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have already recorded their highest ever June temperatures this week, while France, Switzerland and Belgium could now follow.
This comes as hundreds of firefighters and soldiers battled dramatic Spain wildfires in the north-east which of the country which raged on Wednesday and Thursday.
Officials say the fires are the worst in the region for 20 years and may spread rapidly.
In the Catalan province of Tarragona the Spain wildfires have burned across 5,500 hectares of land, with the Guardian reporting that fifty-three people have been evacuated from their homes, five roads remain cut off and the civil protection authorities have advised people not to enter the area unless absolutely necessary. Hundreds of sheep have died in the smoke and flames.
“We’re facing a serious fire on a scale not seen for 20 years,” the region’s interior minister, Miquel Buch, said in a tweet. “It could burn through 20,000 hectares. Let’s be very aware that any carelessness could lead to a catastrophe.”
With temperatures in northern Spain and southern France set to exceed 44C, governments urged their citizens to take the utmost precaution, warning that in some areas the worst was yet to come.
In France, authorities extended restrictions on vehicles, already imposed in Paris and Lyon, to Marseille and Strasbourg in an effort to curb air pollution.
