Consequences of hot weather?

When I went out running earlier this morning it was strangely warm. I had put my light-weight waterproof on as Ophelia was predicted to be making her way over, perhaps softened a bit by hitting Ireland first but still battering us a little with wind and rain. I hadn't got far before I had to take off the waterproof and tie it round my midriff - too hot. It had a try at raining as I made my way back but it didn't really get going. What wind there was blew hot. Very odd! And now the sky is a threatening yellowy grey colour, for all the world as if we are due for a big thunderstorm.

I shouldn't complain. As I have said many times, we are fortunate to have no real extremes of weather.

Late last night I noticed that a friend of mine had posted something about forest fires in Galicia. This is, of course, nothing new. Every summer there are fires. Warnings go out about not lighting fires if you go for a picnic in the woods and about being careful not to drop still-lighted cigarette ends.

But we are now in the middle of October. What is more, my friend, who lives in Alcabre, a district of Vigo down near Samil beach, was talking about the possibility of having to be evacuated from their home.

None of the British papers seemed to have news of this in their online papers. But by this morning some news outlets carried reports, but still not the main story treatment that the California fires had. And yet, people have died, people have had to leave their homes and some homes have gone up in smoke. Fires have been burning all over the place all over the region, crossing the River Miño to and from Portugal. This satellite view shows how many fires have been burning.

I have seen forest fires from a distance. In August I watched fire-fighting planes scooping water from the sea to dump it on the flames. But always I saw it from a distance. Yesterday, I ma told, the fire made its way into the city of Vigo. People from outlying districts were told to leave their homes and hotels and a sports stadium were made available for overnight accommodation. The flames even made their way to the Castro Park, one of the green lungs of the city, close to the centre.


This is Redondela, the next stop on the railway line from Vigo to Pontevedra.

When Redondela has fireworks for its fiestas, we can watch them from our flat in Vigo. That's how close it is. It's an amazing photo. Fire is a beautiful but dangerous thing.

Hurricane Ophelia has had her part in this event, fanning the flames and helping them leap boundaries. And all around the region there are those eucalyptus trees, ubiquitous intruders, that burn like crazy. A major factor though is the fact that it has not rained properly there for months. Back in June, friends of ours were expressing concern about the ongoing drought. And dry months have gone by since then. And temperatures have remained high through September and October.

Astoundingly some of these fires have been started deliberately. Who does things like that?

Poor Galicia!