Ankara / Anadolu

Spanish authorities on Wednesday issued warnings of 'exceptional risk' in several areas as the country continues to experience a severe heatwave.

The Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), in a statement posted on its account on the American company 'X' platform, said that temperatures exceeded 42 degrees Celsius in the inland areas of the southern coasts of the cities of Valencia and Alicante, while reaching 44 degrees Celsius or more in the regions of Vega del Segura, Guadalentín Valley, Lorca, and Águilas.

The agency explained that it issued the highest level of warning, the red warning, in those areas due to the 'exceptional risk', and also issued an orange warning in areas of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, where temperatures range between 39 and 42 degrees Celsius.

For its part, the Spanish Ministry of Health, in a statement, called on citizens to take necessary precautions to prevent the effects of the heatwave, drink plenty of water, and provide assistance to the most vulnerable groups.

- Sánchez calls for tackling climate crisis

In this context, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on his social media account that 22 large fires have broken out across the country since the beginning of the year, resulting in the burning of more than 100,000 hectares of land.

Sánchez noted that this area is roughly equivalent to the average area that burned annually over the past ten years.

He affirmed that the Spanish government has allocated all necessary resources to combat the fires, calling on all political forces to focus on the 'common enemy', which is the climate emergency, and stressing the need to reach a national agreement to confront it.