Floods threaten Europe as scorching heat gives way to storms

Extreme heat in parts of Spain and France is prompting storm and flood warnings, while Greece braces for more fires after a huge blaze near Athens was brought under control.

Orange alerts are in place for parts of Europe, from south-east Spain to the Swiss Alps, as storms bring the risk of flash flooding. Parts of the French Pyrenees could see 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain on Wednesday.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including heat waves, violent storms and wildfires. Countries around the Mediterranean Sea – which reached a record average temperature of 28.16 C (82.7 F) on Tuesday – are some of the hardest hit as fossil fuel emissions heat up the planet.

@VigiMeteofrance August 14
For Wednesday, August 14, 2024:
🔶 8 departments in Vigilance orange
For Monday, August 15, 2024:
🔶 3 departments in Vigilance orange
I remain cautious and informed: https://t.co/JGz4rTUvHP pic.twitter.com/0g42Uuw4eb
— VigiMetéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) August 14, 2024

Red heat warnings are still in place for some of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations, including Sardinia, Tuscany and Puglia. Heat alerts are also in place in the Balkans.

In Kosovo, the Ministry of Health has banned outdoor construction work between 11am and 4pm for the rest of this week as temperatures soar to 37C. It also encourages companies to let employees start work earlier or work from home.

⛈️They are producing tormentas en el Mediterráneo, because they are chopping land in areas of Cataluña, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands.
Animation of detected rays up to 10:40 a.m. (blue dots) and predicted ray density for the whole day (color boxes) pic.twitter.com/DtFF5jCgFq
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) August 14, 2024

Greece is enjoying a brief respite from fires that ravaged the Attica region around Athens earlier in the week, but temperatures and winds are forecast to rise from Thursday.

Most of the country remains on high alert, with the north of the continent and the northern Aegean islands on very high alert. A fire that started more than two weeks ago on Mount Orvilos, on the border with Bulgaria, is still burning.

#EMSR746
Our #MappingTeam launched the second landmark product for #wildfire almost #Athens 🇬🇷
As of August 13, 09:33 UTC, the following were detected:
➡️ A total burned area of ​​10,409 ha (+1,815 ha in 24 hours)
➡️ Active fires have reduced to 5 from 168 in the last 24 hours 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DsTZk6XKMn
— Copernicus EMS (@CopernicusEMS) August 14, 2024

Attention is now turning to a long-term strategy to address the environmental threat posed by fires.

“This is an all-out effort at a time of great climate crisis,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after visiting pilots in Greece and other European nations helping to fight wildfires. “And from every failure of ours, or every fire that gets out of control, always look to learn what we can do better.”

Photo: A firefighting helicopter collects water from the sea east of Athens on August 13, 2024. Photo credit: Ioana Epure/Bloomberg

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Flood storm in Europe