Intense heatwave eases in Spain

Madrid, Aug 16 (EFE).- One of the “most intense” heatwaves experienced in Spain is receding after several days of dangerously high temperatures and outbreaks of wildfires, the national weather service Aemet said Monday.

Although relatively short in duration, having begun on 11 August, Aemet said that on Saturday 230 of its stations detected temperatures higher than 40C (104F) and that 26 recorded highs above 45C. The heat is due to continue until midweek in Spain’s Canary Islands.

Also Saturday, a national temperature record of 47.4C was set in Montoro, Andalusia, one decimal point hotter than the previous record, which was detected in the same city in 2017.

The first major heatwave of the year brought with it the usual outbreaks of wildfires.

One of the worst fires has burned over 120 square kilometers of remote scrubland, pine forest and grass near Avila in the region of Castile and Leon, west of the capital Madrid.

Local authorities have since reported the fire to be largely under control with the immediate forecast in their favor. EFE

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