PARIS, June 19 (ABC): Spain, France and other western European nations sweltered over the weekend under a blistering June heatwave, with some wildfires still blazing even as the weather began to ease.
The soaring temperatures were in line with scientists’ predictions that such phenomena will now strike earlier in the year thanks to global warming.
Emergency services battled several wildfires Sunday in northern Spain. The most alarming blaze in the north-western Sierra de Culebra mountain range has destroyed over 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres), the regional government said.
Firefighters said cooler temperatures overnight had helped them make progress in their battle against the flames.
Residents of some 20 villages who were evacuated from their homes were allowed to return home Sunday morning, local officials said.
Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) have been recorded in parts of Spain throughout the week, but they had dipped by Sunday in most of the country.
The mercury was only expected to hit 29C in Madrid on Sunday and 25C in the province of Zamora where the Sierra de Culebra mountain range is located.
There have also been fires in Germany, where temperatures reached 36C.
In southern France, a blaze triggered by the firing of an artillery shell in military training burnt around 200 hectares of vegetation, authorities in the Var region said.
“There is no threat to anyone except 2,500 sheep who are being evacuated and taken to safety,” the local fire brigade chief said.