Portuguese heat wave breaking records
High temperatures seen persisting into weekend
LISBON, Portugal — Eight places in Portugal broke local temperature records Friday as a wave of heat from North Africa swept across the Iberian peninsula — and officials predicted the scorching temperatures could get even worse over the weekend.
Temperatures built to around
113 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday in many inland areas of Portugal and were expected to peak at 116.6 F in some places Saturday. Large sections of Portugal are on red alert on the Civil Protection Agency’s danger scale.
The highest temperature recorded Thursday, when the heat began to rise, was 113.4 F near Abrantes, a town 93 miles northeast of the capital, Lisbon, the country’s weather agency IPMA said.
Portugal’s highest recorded temperature was 117.3 F in 2003. Emergency services have issued a red alert through Sunday, placing extra services such as medical staff and firefighters on standby.
In Portugal’s southern Alentejo province, streets were largely deserted. Some farmers chose to work during the night instead of in the heat of the day. Beaches around Lisbon, the capital, were packed.
Some 400 firefighters and five water-dropping aircraft were battling a wildfire in southern Portugal’s Algarve region.
Portugal sees large wildfires every year, although unseasonably cool weather through the end of July has meant fewer blazes in 2018. The government says only about 15 percent of the 10-year average area has been charred this year.
Temperatures were being driven higher across the Iberian peninsula by a hot air mass moving northward from Africa, which is also bringing dust from the Sahara Desert, meteorologists said. The dust gave the sky a dark yellow hue in some places.
In Spain, heat warnings were also issued for 41 of the country’s 50 provinces as temperatures were expected to reach up to 111.2 F. Spain’s highest recorded temperature is 116.42 F in Cordoba, a southern city, in July 2017.
The World Meteorological Organization says continental Europe’s record is 118.4 F in Greece in 1977.
In northern Europe, Sweden was still under threat from wildfires, which in recent weeks have extended into the Arctic Circle.