Fire warnings have been issued across the Balearic Islands as temperatures reached above 40°C (104°F) this week.
Temperatures on the Balearic Islands- which include Ibiza, Majorca, and Menorca- skyrocketed this week, triggering Red Alert fire warnings across the region.
Much of the islands contain thick expanses of dry wooded areas that could easily ignite and spread fast-moving fires throughout the area.
Firefighters told the Majorca Daily Bulletin the forest regions have become like a “tinderbox.”
These warnings follow a devastating heatwave across Europe which led to a violent wildfire in Greece, forcing the evacuation of 19,000 people from Rhodes – the largest fire-related evacuation ever recorded in the country.
The current heatwave is a perfect storm of fire conditions, with high nighttime temperatures above 22°C (around 71°F) and low humidity below 10-20%.
The ongoing heatwave across Europe is partially driven by the Atlantic Ocean heatwave, where above-average ocean temperatures increase the temperature of air masses, creating pressure systems that trap hot air on land.
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