WLarge parts of Europe also groaned under an early heatwave over the weekend. According to the German weather service, 37.1 degrees were measured in Germany on Saturday in Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate and in Waghäusel-Kirrlach in Baden-Württemberg. A forest fire is raging near the small town of Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg, districts have been evacuated. The authorities set up a central emergency shelter in the town hall for those affected. The local hospital is also preparing to evacuate, but will continue to operate for the time being.
The fire-fighting work was made more difficult by strong winds and the fact that the area is partially polluted with old ammunition, so that the emergency services could only move on secured routes. The fire broke out on Friday and has kept the approximately 500 emergency services in suspense ever since. Helicopters from the Federal Police and the Bundeswehr support the extinguishing work.
In France, the weather service Météo France spoke of the earliest heat wave since 1947. The peak value was 42.9 degrees in Biarritz. The heat was followed by a change in weather in the west with severe weather. On the Atlantic coast, sea rescuers were constantly on duty to help damaged boats.
In north-west Spain, the biggest forest fire so far this year has destroyed more than 25,000 hectares. It had previously erupted in the province of Zamora, not far from the Portuguese border in the sparsely populated Sierra de la Culebra. According to media reports, it is the worst forest fire in Castile-Leon in a century. The residents of several places had to leave their homes at times. A significant drop in temperatures on Sunday night and light rain made the work of hundreds of emergency services supported by the army easier. Numerous fires also raged in other regions of Spain. In Catalonia alone, the fire brigade fought 30 fires over the weekend. Also in Castellón, Cáceres, Navarre and Zaragoza, heat and drought had set fire to large areas.
Forest fire and swimming pool visit
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The heat in pictures
In Italy, the heatwave and ongoing drought in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions caused power outages over the weekend. In Turin, the power supply was interrupted from half an hour to three hours, depending on the district.
The water level of the Po is currently around 3.70 meters below normal, which is the lowest level in 70 years. Farmers in the Po Valley are demanding that the power-generating lakes in the north be released into the Po’s tributaries so that more water can be drawn from the river to irrigate the fields in the country’s breadbasket. Agriculture Minister Stefano Patuanelli said the declaration of a state of emergency over water shortages was only a matter of time.
In the event of an emergency, the governments of the affected regions can regulate the supply of electricity and water according to the economic and social importance of the customers. The governor of the north-western region of Piedmont warned at the weekend that if a solution was not found within 14 days, there was a risk of almost complete crop failure in the region. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and the farmers’ association, the drought has so far caused crop failures worth up to two billion euros.