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CANARY ISLANDS

Canary Islands: Eight thousand evacuated as wildfire rages across Gran Canaria

A raging wildfire on the Spanish holiday island of Gran Canaria forced the evacuation of some 8,000 people, authorities said on Monday, warning it could take days for the blaze to be brought under control

Published: 19 August 2019 09:13 CEST
Canary Islands: Eight thousand evacuated as wildfire rages across Gran Canaria
Photos: AFP

The fire, which has spread to the mountainous Cruz de Tejeda region popular with tourists for its breathtaking views, is “extremely fierce” and “unstable”, said Canary Islands president Angel Victor Torres in a statement.

No fatalities have been reported.   

More than 700 firefighters and 16 aircraft battled to contain the flames, hampered by strong winds and high temperatures.

With the temperature set to rise Monday, authorities estimate it could take days before the blaze is brought under control.

“The next few hours will be very important because the weather forecast for the night is not good,” Torres said.

The fire broke out days after another wildfire in the same region forced the evacuation of hundreds.

Gran Canaria is the second most populous of the Canary Islands in theAtlantic off the northwest coast of Africa.

The Canary Islands received 13.7 million foreign visitors last year, over half of them from Britain and Germany.

Spain is frequently plagued by huge forest fires because of its arid summer climate.

READ ALSO: Most of Spain on alert for wildfire risk as temperatures soar

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WEATHER

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Summer is finally here! Or least it is if you live in southern Norway, where a warm front coming up from Europe will bring t-shirt temperatures of 20C by Thursday, according to forecasts.

Published: 30 April 2024 08:42 CEST
Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Warm air from southern Europe will combine with a high pressure zone which will bring clear skies and sunshine, with summery weather coming towards the end of the week, Norway’s national weather forecaster Yr has reported. 

“Thursday and Friday especially will be nice,” Ingrid Villa, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, told the public broadcaster NRK. “Then we will probably get temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius in some places.” 

Patches of 20C warmth are expected both in western Norway around Bergen and in Western Norway around Oslo, with the area around Tromsø expected to have slightly cooler weather, although Villa said that “it will absolutely be something like summer there too”. 

The warm sunny weather is, however, expected to pass northern Norway by, with grey overcast skies expected for much of this week. 

But if you think summer has come to Norway to stay, you risk disappointment as much cooler temperatures are expected next week.  

“There’s nothing unusual in getting an early taste of summer in April and the start of May, and then we can quickly go back to cooler more spring-like weather,” Villa said. 

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