European new wave of raging wildfires force thousands to flee

PARIS: Wildfires across southern Europe forced thousands of people to flee their homes and prompted authorities to ban spectators from Tour de France stage that was threatened by one inferno. Hundreds of firefighters are battling blazes that have devastated more than 20,000 hectares of land — an area nearly three times the size of Manhattan — across Portugal, Spain, France, Greece and other countries. The fires are spreading as temperatures rise again — already reaching 43°C in Spain — in a continent still scarred by the aftermath of heatwaves in May and June that have been blamed for thousands of deaths.
Scientists agree that climate change driven by humans burning fossil fuels is increasing the risk and severity of heatwaves and other extreme weather phenomena. Some 10,500 people were told to evacuate their homes near Perpignan in southwestern France as firefighters battled a blaze in the Pyrenees that has devoured more than 4,600 hectares, authorities said.
'The fire came within 300 metres of the houses. We were taken aback by how fast it spread, it was staggering — bordering on panic,' said Patrice, a 53-year-old resident of the village of Trevillach, who did not give his surname. 'We started seeing smoke around 10:30 pm, then it kept coming closer and closer. Someone from the town hall knocked on our door around 1:00 am to tell us to leave,' said Charlotte Pignol. 'The smell of smoke was overwhelming,' added the 30-year-old.
Authorities said third stage of the Tour de France cycle race through the Pyrenees would take place without the thousands of spectators who normally line the route. The 196-kilometre stage sees the race cross the border from Spain into France. But only riders and their team vehicles will be allowed on the route.
Regional prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe told reporters: 'I regret having to say this, it will be, in France at least, a stage of the Tour de France without spectators.' Three hundred French firefighters struggled to control another fire in a mountainous district of the southeastern Drome department.
In Greece, flames set off by a forest fire tore through two factories in Thessaloniki in the north of the country, forcing authorities to evacuate the surrounding area and to warn households to keep their windows closed. A fire that threatened the tourist beaches of the Costa Brava in northeastern Spain burned more than 2,200 hectares in two days and was still being fought. Rising temperatures in Spain fuelled fears of more blazes. The thermometer reached 43°C in Andalusia and Extremadura on Sunday.
In Portugal, emergency services said they had controlled a wildfire that devastated some 13,000 hectares of forest and scrub land in a northern district. Four Portuguese regions remained on a heat alert on Monday however. Elsewhere, major fires also destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest, vineyards and scrub land on the Croatian island of Hvar and at Tale in Albania, authorities said.
Europe recorded record-breaking temperatures during a severe heatwave in June which would have been 'virtually impossible' without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said. Following the two-week surge in temperatures, France said there had been more than 2,000 extra deaths than usual in just one week, while Spain and Belgium each reported more than 1,000 'excess' deaths. — AFP