World weatherwatch: deadly Turkey wildfires rage on

World weatherwatch: deadly Turkey wildfires rage on

Greece, Italy and Bosnia also affected by wildfires caused by heatwave in south-east Europe

Fire devastates the village of Sirtkoy, near Manavgat in Antalya, Turkey.

Andrew Stewart (Metdesk)
Thu 5 Aug 2021 01.00 EDT

At least eight people have been killed and dozens are in hospital as a result of wildfires in southern Turkey caused by a heatwave in south-east Europe over the last week. Peoples’ homes burned down and authorities evacuated resorts and villages as fires raged in 32 separate provinces. Greece, Italy and Bosnia have also been affected by wildfires over the last week as temperatures reached 40C-43C quite widely.

South America saw an intense cold snap last week with unusual snow accumulations across parts of Brazil. The most widespread frosts since 1994 have been an exciting novelty for some, but for others it has been worrying. The cold spell has damaged crops and is estimated to have cost the coffee sector between GBP69m and GBP83m.

Delhi in India has had a very unusual summer so far. The monsoon season starts on 1 June but the first monsoon this year was delayed until the 13 July. This made it the latest start to a monsoon season in the city for 19 years. Despite this, Delhi received more than double its climatological rainfall in July. Taking June and July together, Delhi had 102% of its average rainfall which, given the very late start to the monsoon season, is remarkable.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *