Portugal fires - live: Fears of new wildfires as blistering 37C heat sparks warnings over extreme weather

Though the Odemira wildfire was tamed on Wednesday morning, 100 municipalities remain at maximum risk

Firefighters battle wildfires in Portugal as thousands forced to evacuate

Portuguese authorities fear new wildfires could spark as blistering 37C heat has provoked extreme weather warnings.

Yellow warnings - the lowest level on a three-tier scale - will remain in place across the Beja and Faro districts until 10 August at the minimum, with the Met Office anticipating that, on Friday, temperatures will reach highs of 37C across Faro in the Algarve region of southern Portugal.

Vitor Vaz Pinto, regional commander of the emergency and civil protection authority (ANEPC), said on Wednesday the wildfire in the municipality of Odemira, in the Alentejo region, was brought under control at 10.15am.

The wildfire started on Saturday, but high temperatures and strong winds hampered efforts by more than 1,000 firefighters and water-dousing planes to extinguish the flames, which destroyed some 8,400 hectares, according to preliminary data.

For now, firefighters, water-dousing planes and bulldozers being used to prevent the spread of the fire will remain on the ground and then gradually be demobilised, Vaz Pinto said.

Temperatures have now dropped along the Portuguese coast but remain high across the countryside, with around 100 municipalities remaining at maximum risk of wildfires.

The biggest blaze, in the northeast, burned about 600 hectares (1,500 acres) and required the evacuation of 150 people.

Key Points

• Portugal wildfire visible from space
• Wildfire tamed in southern Portugal, but authorities stay on alert
• Top rural hotel destroyed by wildfires
• Yellow warnings to remain in place across Beja and Faro districts until 10 August
• ‘Not much active flame’ in Odemira wildfire, regional commander says

[10 August 2023 01:00 · Jane Dalton]

British family flee ‘Armageddon’ in Portugal

British family who were on holiday in Portugal have described fleeing from the “Armageddon” wildfires.

Miranda Harvie-Watt and her family had to escape when the fire came close to their property in São Teotónio.

The 52-year-old told the BBC: “It was like Armageddon, I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Our home is still standing which is incredible as the fires are all around us but so far so good.”

The Hampshire family praised the emergency services’ efforts to control the blazes amid strong winds.

[10 August 2023 00:01 · Jane Dalton]

Sweltering Europeans embrace air conditioning

European air-conditioning has picked up from 10% in 2000 to 19% last year, according to the International Energy Agency. That is still well shy of the United States, at around 90%.

Many in Europe resist due to cost, concern about environmental impact and even suspicions of adverse health impacts from cold air currents, including colds, a stiff neck, or worse:

[9 August 2023 23:00 · Jane Dalton]

Climate crisis made July hotter for four out of five people

ICYMI: Human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth, with more than 2 billion people feeling climate change-boosted warmth daily, according to a flash study.

More than 6.5 billion people, or 81% of the world’s population, sweated through at least one day where climate change had a significant effect on the average daily temperature, according to a new report:

[9 August 2023 21:39 · Jane Dalton]

Spanish glacier melts to just half a sq km

As Spain suffocates under high temperatures, ice on its mountains is melting.

The Cryosphere, a scientific journal focused on frozen water and ground, has published a peer-reviewed paper showing how the Aneto Glacier, the largest in the Pyrenees, is melting and could disappear altogether.

The paper shows the glacier lost about two-thirds of its surface area between 1981 and 2022 and has been reduced to just half a square km. The glacier’s mean ice thickness was reduced by about 30 metres in the same period.

The melting accelerated in 2021 and 2022, both particularly warm years in Spain.

[9 August 2023 18:15 · Eleanor Noyce]

Voices: The climate crisis will irrevocably change how we holiday: Here’s what the future of travel looks like

Without fail, when summer unfurls each year, I’m gripped by the urge to escape these often cloudy shores to lie in the sun. I’m British, after all, and can’t shake our peculiar attitude towards the closest star to Earth: when rays of UV light bear down, I feel the pressure to soak them up lest I never feel their warmth again. Our friends on the continent aren’t burdened with such tendencies, instead holding a more nonchalant attitude to summertime.

Another summer, another ravaging of Europe by meteorological forces – surely the way we travel has to adapt? From swapping Greece for Portugal to delaying trips until the autumn, this is how our getaways are set for a shake-up, finds Benjamin Parker:

[9 August 2023 17:30 · Eleanor Noyce]

People are jumping into the ocean to escape Hawaii wildfires on Maui

The US Coast Guard has rescued 12 people who jumped into the ocean to escape flames and smoke from one of several wildfires burning out of control across Hawaii, officials say.

Evacuations are underway across multiple Hawaiian islands after wildfires fuelled by 70mph (112kms) wind gusts from Hurricane Dora destroyed buildings, cut off power to 15,000 residents and burned through thousands of acres.

A dozen residents were pulled from the water off the coast of Lahaina, on Maui, after “entering the ocean due to smoke and fire conditions”, according to a Maui County emergency alert.

[9 August 2023 16:45 · Eleanor Noyce]

Hawaii wildfires burn homes and force evacuations, while strong winds complicate the fight

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles (805 kilometres), was partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph (97 kph) that knocked out power as night fell, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters.

Dangerous fire conditions created by strong winds and low humidity were expected to last through Wednesday afternoon, the weather service said.

Jennifer Sinco Kelleher has the full story:

[9 August 2023 16:00 · Eleanor Noyce]

Top rural hotel destroyed by wildfires

A top rural hotel in Portugal has been destroyed by the wildfires, with the owner since criticising the response from local authorities.

Luisa Botelho and her ex-husband Paulo Camacho turned Teima Alentejo SW into an award-winning country hotel almost 10 years ago.

Welcoming holidaymakers from across the world, Teima is located in the Juncal Valley, a 15-minute drive from the Alentejo coast resort of Zambujeira do Mar.

The B&B was voted the best rural hotel in Portugal in 2017, later receiving the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Award in 2021.

“Teima has been consumed by flames. This special place to which we dedicated all our lives now has a deep wound”, Ms Botelho told reporter Natalia Penza.

“We will be closed until this wound heals, until we are once again able to welcome our customers and friends as we always have.

“We will need everyone’s help so that we can shine again. We will provide updates soon.”

She later criticised the response from local authorities, telling local press that as the main house was in flames, there was “not a single firefighter.”

“I asked the police and firefighters for help because I realised the property was going to burn”, she said.

“We had to leave around 1pm on Saturday and at 5.30pm I was desperate with no news and went through hills and valleys and saw the main house was on fire and there was not a single firefighter.”

Firefighter watch the progression of a wildfire in Odeceixe, south of Portugal, 8 August (AFP via Getty Images)

[9 August 2023 15:15 · Eleanor Noyce]

Spain roasts as summer's third heatwave peaks

Spain’s third heatwave of the summer was set to reach its peak on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching as high as 44C in central and southern Spain and authorities warning of the risk of wildfires.

The mercury could also rise to 40C in the Basque Country in northeastern Spain, an area less accustomed to such high temperatures, the state weather agency AEMET said.

It warned of so-called dry storms - thunder and lightning without rainfall - in many parts of the country.

Southern European countries have been grappling with record-breaking temperatures this summer, prompting authorities to warn of health risks, particularly for the elderly and those with medical conditions.

Temperatures in some areas in the southern half of Spain remained above 27C on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, AEMET spokesperson Ruben del Campo said.

“Wednesday will be the most intense day in terms of extension and temperatures,” Del Campo said, adding that the heatwave will continue until the weekend.

With the tourist season also hitting its peak, sightseers in Madrid were getting more sun than they bargained for. Visitors waiting in line at the Prado Museum were sprayed with water by employees. Tourists said they were keeping to the shade, drinking lots of water and eating ice cream to stay cool.

The heatwaves recorded in Spain and wider Europe this summer have worsened a prolonged drought, lowering reservoir levels as water evaporation and consumption increase and prompting authorities in Catalonia to impose new water usage restrictions.

Tourists protect themselves from the sun using an umbrella during a heatwave in Cordoba in Cordoba, 8 August (AFP via Getty Images)

[9 August 2023 15:00 · Eleanor Noyce]

Odemira wildfire causes 42 injuries

The wildfire in Odemira - which was considered under control on Wednesday morning with little ‘active’ flame - caused 42 injuries.

At the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) briefing on Wednesday morning, regional commander Vítor Vaz Pinto added that nine of the 42 injured required hospital treatment, Publico reports.

Meanwhile, 1,459 people in total were displaced by the National Republican Guard (GNR) from the impacted areas, with 124 pets also evacuated as a preventative measure.