Floods, fires and heavy rain have dealt more blows across Europe this week, with authorities on the continent scrambling to respond to extreme weather that has become more common in the past few years. year.
The latest events have destroyed large amounts of land, left dozens of people injured, forced thousands to flee and, in some cases, caused deaths, and they come on the heels of of the scorching temperatures that have engulfed most of Southern Europe this summer.
Due to climate change, extreme heat has become a fixture of warmer months in Europe, but experts say the continent has failed to adapt well to warmer conditions. Governments in many countries are now struggling to address the devastating effects.
“Extreme weather across Europe continues to be a concern,” Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament, wrote on Twitter. “The EU shows solidarity with all those in need.”
Deadly Floods in Slovenia
Heavy rains in recent days have caused rivers to overflow their banks across Slovenia in what authorities there say is the worst natural disaster since the country’s independence in 1991. At least six people have died, according to the Slovenian news agency STA, and thousands were forced to flee their homes to escape the flood.
Several countries have tried to help, with France and Germany sending equipment such as artificial bridges, and even Ukraine, in the midst of a war with Russia, promise to send a helicopter.
Entire villages were left under water, and large rivers of mud filled roads and sports fields and flowed below collapsed bridges, with cars stuck in the debris of landslides caused by flooding.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, said she would travel to Slovenia on Wednesday.
Flooding was also reported in Austria, Slovenia’s northern neighbor, killing at least one person, according to the Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer.
Wildfires in Cyprus, Italy and Portugal
Hundreds of firefighters continued to battle rural wildfires in Portugal on Tuesday. The fires prompted the evacuation of more than a thousand locals and tourists, and several firefighters were injured while fighting the flames.
Fire danger over the past few days has been at its highest in large parts of the country, with strong winds and temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Portugal has battled wildfires on several occasions over the years. Blazes killed more than 60 people in 2017.
Elsewhere, the European Union sent firefighting planes to help with efforts to deal with wildfires burning in Cyprus in recent days; Greece, also ravaged by wildfires this summer, sent liquid flame retardant to the island to help. Israel also provided assistance, including firefighting planes, a crew of four pilots and ground crew. Jordan and Lebanon also sent support.
Hundreds of people have also been evacuated from the Italian island of Sardinia, a popular tourist destination, after large areas burned in recent days.
Torrents in Norway and Sweden
Heavy rain has been recorded in the two Nordic countries this month, causing a train derailment on Monday that injured three people in eastern Sweden. Police said the deluge damaged the embankment where the accident occurred, causing it to collapse.
More rain is expected in both countries in the coming days. The Swedish meteorological and hydrological institute said the amount of rain that fell was unusually high for August in many locations.
“Many places received more rain in one day than you normally get in the whole month of August,” said Ida Dahlstrom, a meteorologist at the Swedish meteorological institute. He added that the city of Lund, in Southern Sweden, had not received so much rain in one day for more than 160 years.
The institute issued red alerts – the highest level of flood warning – for some areas of Sweden on Monday night and said heavy amounts of rain in the south of the country could send water into the creeks and canals at very high levels.
The stormy weather brought not only heavy rain but also unusually high temperatures, with the town of Haparanda, in northern Sweden, reaching 86 on Tuesday, its highest temperature for August since 1969.
Christina Anderson contributed reporting.
