Spain heatwave latest: Extreme weather warnings over 44C temperatures

Key Points

• Spain plagued by dramatic wildfires amid intense heat
• Mapped: Weather warnings in Spain on Thursday
• France records 5,764 excess deaths from June-July heatwaves
• 'It felt like hell was approaching': Spanish residents recall wildfires

Bulletin | Severe heatwave grips Europe with Spain facing 44C temperatures

Europe is currently experiencing a severe heatwave, with Spain facing "extraordinary danger" as temperatures are forecast to reach up to 44C, close to its all-time record of 47.6C.

Here’s everything you need to know in five bullet points:

Severe heatwave grips Europe with Spain facing 44C temperatures

Greece, North Macedonia and Kosovo all impacted by southern heatwave

Spain, France and Italy have suffered much of the brunt of this week’s heatwave, but it has also been felt further east.

In Greece, with temperatures forecast to top 41 C (106 F), authorities have banned outdoor work at peak midday sun. In Cyprus, which is also used to high summer temperatures, working outdoors was banned during afternoon hours on Wednesday.

In Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, 11 people were admitted to hospital, three of them with serious injuries, after a storm on Tuesday night felled trees, damaged roofs and caused power outages across the Balkan country, local media reported.

Roads were blocked and some towns left without electricity and water.

In Kosovo, the Hydrometeorological Institute said more storms were expected on Wednesday and warned of possible lightning strikes, damage to the electricity network, power outages, flooding and property damage.

Local media showed roofs being blown away, torrential rain and residents covering their cars with blankets on Tuesday to protect them from hail.

Watch: Wildfires sweep southern Europe forcing thousands from their homes

More than 10,000 evacuated in southwestern France as wildfires scorch land near Bordeaux

More than 10,000 people were evacuated overnight in southwestern France as a rapidly spreading wildfire scorched through 2,000 hectares of land west of the city of Bordeaux, officials said on Thursday.

Wildfires have burnt more land in Europe already this year than the annual average in the past two decades, data shows, as the world's fastest-warming continent has endured three stifling, virtually back-to-back heatwaves so far this year.

Five hundred firefighters are battling to control the blaze, the prefecture said, adding that the wildfire was very rough, but that no one has been injured so far.

The wildfire is located near the Arcachon Bay area, a tourist hotspot, and many of those evacuated are tourists staying in camping sites.

In pictures: Spain suffers one of its largest wildfires in years

'It felt like hell was approaching': Spanish residents recall wildfires

The residents of a small village near the major Guadalajara wildfire have recalled the moment they were evacuated as a fire tore through the area.

It felt like “hell was approaching”, the mayor of the Naharros hamlet, Ricardo Antón, told El Pais.

“You see the whole mountain above burning and you hear it right above you. The fire was so fierce it jumped [across] the valley.”

Antonia Molinero, 80, recalled the moment the Civil Guard knocked on her door to evacuate her on Sunday night.

“You don’t have time to react. You think, if I have to leave, then I have to leave,” she said.

Antonio Mier, 20, added: "It's quite shocking to see everything green your whole life and then suddenly see it so black.”

Vast majority of Spain at 'extreme' risk of wildfire

The vast majority of Spain is at ‘extreme’ risk of a wildfire, according to Spanish forecaster AEMET.

On Thursday, the warnings cover large parts of the countries eastern half, with the rest of the country at ‘very high’ or ‘moderate’ risk.

Going into Friday, the vast majority of the country, carrying the northwestern and southwestern corners, along with parts of the eastern coast, are at ‘extreme’ risk, the forecaster said.

France records 5,764 excess deaths from June-July heatwaves

France recorded 5,764 excess deaths between June 17 and July 2 when the country was hit by heatwaves, French TV station BFMTV reported on Wednesday, citing health authority data.

The count represents a 36 per cent excess mortality, BFMTV added.

Health Minister Stephanie Rist had originally estimated the excess deaths recorded in late June at 2,025.

The record-breaking heatwaves saw temperatures go well into the 40s.

Mapped: Weather warnings in Spain on Thursday

Spain plagued by dramatic wildfires amid intense heat

Spain has been plagued by wildfires during a period of dry weather and intense heat, with thousands evacuated.

In central Spain firefighters battled a wildfire on Wednesday that has burned over 32,000 hectares (79,000 acres) in one of the country's largest blazes on record.

The fire in rural Guadalajara comes less than two weeks after a deadly blaze devastated a small expat community in southern Spain.

That small but extremely virulent fire killed 13 people, including several foreigners, in one of the southern European country's deadliest wildfires.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday visited the fire-ravaged area in Guadalajara, and called for a pact between political parties to fight climate change.

"Year after year we clearly see how climate change kills and destroys wealth in our communities," Sánchez said in the village of Tamajón, located less than two hours by car northeast of Madrid.

"This isn't politics. It is science, it's about facts."

Some 34 villages have been evacuated in the area but there are no reported serious injuries or deaths.

Mapped: Spain braces for heatwave as tourist hotspots warned over record-breaking weather

Spain is set to face its third brutal heatwave of an already record-breaking summer, with temperatures expected to hit highs of up to 44C.

The country’s meteorological agency AEMET warned the heatwave is expected to last all week, with temperatures approaching Spain’s all-time record of 47.6C five years ago.

Areas most severely affected will include much of the southeastern interior of the country, pushing wildfire dangers to extreme levels.

Maira Butt reports:

Mapped: Spain braces for 47C as tourist hotspots warned over record-breaking heat