109F In Xativa, Spain On May 14th; Forest Fires Already Roaring In Alicante Province
MADRID (AP) — Sunny Spain and Portugal are seeing record high temperatures for May, hitting levels normally only reached in mid-summer.
Up to 20 Spanish cities have been hit by scorching temperatures and several regional governments are worried about the effects the heat wave could have on crops, Spain's meteorological agency said Friday.
It said the eastern town of Xativa recorded 42.9 degrees Celsius (109.2 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, breaking a 2006 record of 40.1 degrees Celsius (104.2 Fahrenheit) set at Cordoba Airport. Portugal also set a May record, with the southern city of Beja sizzling Wednesday in 40 degrees Celsius heat. Portugal's previous May high was 39.5 degrees Celsius (103.1 Fahrenheit) in 2011.
The stifling heat stretched across to Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where temperatures of 42.4 degrees Celsius (108.3 Fahrenheit) were recorded Wednesday at Lanzarote Airport.
EDIT
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/world/article/Spain-Portugal-bake-in-record-May-heat-wave-6265462.php
A MASSIVE forest fire in a mountain valley above the Costa Blanca has left an entire village covered in ash and residents being given oxygen masks.
The blaze broke out in the Vall d'Ebo, in the far north of the province of Alicante, early yesterday afternoon (Thursday) in the Solana de Garrofar area close to the neighbouring valley, the Vall d'Alcalà.
Armed forces members have been sent out to help tackle the inferno and the Red Cross has been deployed in the nearest town, Pego. The fire continues to burn out of control, and residents on the Los Verdales urbanisation have been evacuated from their villas as a precaution.
Homes on the very edge of Pego town have been affected by the flames, which have reached the stations of the cross up the hill to the chapel where the Good Friday parades take place.
EDIT
http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/25891/raging-inferno-in-vall-debo-leaves-pego-residents-gasping-for-breath
