Overview

• Firefighting crews have brought most blazes under control, with key hotspots in northern Portugal, Greece and Italy still being monitored.
• Ponte da Barca in northern Portugal remains the most challenging area where flames are nearly contained but hindered by unfavorable weather.
• Unexpected rainfall in Cuevas del Valle, Spain, nearly extinguished flames, providing critical relief described as “manna from heaven” by local authorities.
• Since January, over 70,000 hectares have burned in Portugal and Spain, while Turkey has seen more than 2,000 fires this year, causing at least 14 fatalities.
• Portugal’s civil protection chief Elisio Oliveira warned that unfavorable winds and forecast temperatures above 40°C could reverse progress in controlling the fires.