Scorching heat.

After a blisteringly hot weekend which saw temperatures reach 44 - 45 degrees, we are now back to a somewhat more comfortable 35 -36 degree high.  In fact this morning when we went out it was to a relatively cool 24.

As well as the hot sun we have had strong hot winds  and there have been lots of wildfires around Spain.  The worst ones are on the islands of La Gomera and Tenerife,  with some on the mainland up around Alicante.   We've only seen 2 fires from here this year, one just outside Mecina Bombaron and the other over towards Válor.   The yellow fireplane that sprays foam on the flames and a helicopter with water bucket have been flying by quite regularly so there's probably more fires round here than we know about.  The government says up till the end of July nearly 131,000 hectares of vegetation were destroyed by fires and on Sunday there were 10 wildfires raging in Spain.

I suppose after the driest winter recorded in either 60 or 70 years, depending which report you read,  followed by this scorching heat,  then fires are not surprising.  But when regional officials  say that there is evidence that it   "was started deliberately as it had two focal points two miles apart that began burning within a short time of each other"   you do wonder what makes people tick.


Pictures and more words   here    and    here.