Evacuations as forest fires rage in northern Spain

Around 1,000 residents from 12 villages in Navarre province in Northern Spain have been forced from their homes as firefighters battled forest fires in the region on Monday. The villagers have been housed in emergency accommodation, the Noticias de Navarra newspaper reported on the basis of information from the local authorities. The situation is reported to be worst amid changing wind directions in the Sierra del Perdón mountain range and in Gallipienzo, some 20 kilometres south of the provincial capital of Pamplona. The situation was reported to be improving gradually, as the recent heatwave passes, and temperatures fall below 30 degrees Celsius. The worst blaze in the Sierra de la Culebra range in north-western Spain not far from the Portuguese border has been put out, leaving 25,000 hectares of destroyed woodland. The economic consequences for the thinly populated region are significant. Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more intense in Spain, as well as earlier in the year. Montoro in Andalusia in the south posted a record high of 47.4 degrees Celsius in August last year.