Published on •Updated
Europe continues to struggle with the consequences of extreme weather, with Serbia, Bosnia, Spain, and Poland all facing severe conditions.
In Serbia, the EU has sent helicopters and firefighters to support local crews battling a blaze that has engulfed more than 1,600 hectares of vegetation in the Deliblatska Pescara nature reserve, 60 kilometres east of Belgrade. The effort is also being assisted by a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 water bomber deployed since Thursday, alongside several Serbian army helicopters.
“The situation is extremely difficult,” says Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s Interior Minister, adding that “more than 400 people are deployed there on a daily basis.”
The crisis extends further into the region, where a large fire broke out on Saturday in the border area between Bosnia and Croatia. Bosnian police closed the main highway connecting Trebinje in Bosnia to Dubrovnik in Croatia, forcing thousands of tourists to turn back and alter their holiday plans.
Several villages around the small town of Ivanica were evacuated as the flames approached homes, and local firefighters reported that some livestock was caught in the fire and burnt. Croatian firefighters from nearby Dubrovnik arrived to assist Bosnian crews in battling the forest fire, which is spreading over an area more than 16 kilometres in diameter across narrow, difficult-to-access terrain. Supported by helicopters, emergency teams continue to fight the blaze, but relentless heat and strong winds have pushed the fire further inland. The Trebinje area has not seen rain for months, leaving the parched landscape exceptionally vulnerable during one of the hottest and driest summers in recent history.
Wildfires and floods in Spain
Meanwhile, Spain has faced a weekend of contrasting weather extremes. Torrential rain and flooding in Tarragona left 11 people injured and disrupted road and rail services after more than 145 mm fell in some areas. Further strong thunderstorms are forecast across eastern and northeastern Spain, while an unusually powerful Atlantic low is bringing heavy rain to Galicia.
Elsewhere in the country, firefighters in Spain’s eastern Valencia region continued battling intense wildfires. A blaze broke out in the town of Segorbe late Thursday after a lightning strike and began spreading rapidly Friday afternoon as winds shifted, leading authorities to raise the wildfire emergency to Level 2.
Personnel from Spain’s Military Emergency Unit and local fire departments joined the response, while more than 1,000 residents from the nearby town of Gatova were forced to evacuate over fears for their homes. Supported by aerial resources, crews have since managed to stabilise the fire after it burned around 630 hectares. The events mark a sharp shift from extreme heat earlier in the week, when temperatures reached up to 44°C.
Poland struggled, but the situation is improving
Further north, severe weather has also struck Poland. Since Friday, storms have wreaked havoc across the country, with firefighters responding to more than 6,500 incidents.
The storms hit residents in many areas, forcing the precautionary evacuation of 12 scout camps amid floods and power cuts. Brigadier Karol Kroć from the State Fire Service told the Polish Press Agency that no injuries have been reported so far.
On Sunday, storms are still expected in northern Poland, as the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management has issued yellow weather warnings for two small regions, with a local forecast of heavy rainfall up to 30 litres per square metre and wind gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour. Hail is also possible in some areas. Ho
However, the general weather in the country on Sunday has improved significantly. Therefore, the weather conditions across the rest of Poland are expected to be much calmer.
Additional sources • AFP, AP, Euronews Spain