Death toll from brutal heat wave tops 1,000 in Spain and Portugal

SPAIN,PORTUGAL: The heat wave impacting Spain for several consecutive days has killed over 1,000 people in Portugal and Spain, according to BNO News.

This comes just one day after it was reported at least 360 people died from the heat in Spain, according to La Vanguardia. On Friday alone, 123 deaths in the country were attributed to the record-breaking heat.

Of the 360 deaths reported on Saturday, the community of Madrid reported 22 deaths, while one 60-year-old municipal cleaning worker died Saturday during work.

On July 10, the first day of the heat wave, 15 heat-related deaths were recorded. Since then, the number of daily deaths has increased every day. By Wednesday, daily deaths attributed to the heat rose to 60 as temperatures surpassed 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the country.

Madrid-Barajas airport hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 C) on Thursday, which broke its record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the month of July. Spain reported 93 deaths attributed to the heat on Thursday.

The heat has been baking Portugal and Spain with temperatures frequently topping 100 F (38 C) since Friday, July 8. Seville, Spain, has been one of the hottest spots with the mercury soaring at or above 105 F (41 C) for nine consecutive days.

The temperature of 116.6 F (47 C) recorded in Pinhão, Portugal, on Thursday, July 14, broke the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the country in July, according to Portugal’s meteorological agency, Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera The country’s current July record stands at 115.7 F (46.5 C) which was set in Amareleja in 1995.

– BBC