to contact the university they are hoping to go to directly, and ask them to hold their place. simon jones, bbc news. a three day state of alert is under way in portugal which is seeing devastating wildfires and drought this summer. the measure, which grants authorities special, temporary powers such as barring people from woodlands, is a response to forecasts of temperatures above a0 degrees celsius in what could be the country s third heatwave this summer. earlier i spoke to our correspondent, alison roberts, who gave us the latest from lisbon. a0 degrees yesterday in the interior of the country and that is really where the main problem is. today we have seen a number of major fires, eight burning at the moment, three of them of greatest concern because they have been burning for several hours. we have already seen in fact the rail line between lisbon and porto, the second city, with services suspended because of a fire in the centre of the country around fatima, which is where there
which are above all to prevent fires being started by sparks for example from machinery or by carelessness of the public which is very often how these fires that do start. any sign that things will come down? any sign that things will calm down? for now, based on the weather forecast we have, the government has declared a state of alert until midnight on tuesday. however, it will review that situation late on monday, so it could potentially be shortened, but it could also be lengthened and that is something we did see injuly with the state of alert lengthened repeatedly because of the high temperatures remained and underlying all this is not just the temperatures, it is the extreme drought that the whole of mainland portugal is suffering, which has made its forests really very prone to any kind of fire and the fires spreading once they do start. thanks to alison for that. it s long been known that the popularity of our coastal towns and resorts with holiday
in august, but it does come again as the third heatwave this summer on top of a severe or extreme drought in the whole of mainland portugal. that means particularly in the interior there was an extreme risk of wildfires in the country s forests and that is expected to continue at least until tuesday. i was reading about the fires in serra de estrela, the national park, big fires lasting several days there and they have been brought under control now, haven t they? but there are concerns they could flare up again. yes, there always are. they had been thought to be put under control somewhat earlier, but there were several reignitions in different places. it s never quite clear what causes those, there are always allegations of arson. there is very little needed in these drought conditions to start fires and that is why the government has declared a state of alert and under that measure has restricted public access to forested areas and the use of machinery even by farmers which has been
but even at this distance you can see his clothes were on fire. more than 500 deaths are being linked to this week long heatwave in spain alone. these commuters seem to be surrounded by flames. no one was hurt, but it was a chilling moment. i was not really amazed that there was a fire not so far from the rail tracks. what i was amazed is that this was the first time that i saw how quickly a fire can spread. like, it can be a matter of seconds. many fear this could simply be a sign of things to come. tim allman, bbc news. i m joined by alison roberts who is in the portugese capital, lisbon. tell us the picture across portugal. temperatures have thankfully come down quite a bit from the peaks of last week when we had 47 degrees, an all timejuly record. but last week when we had 47 degrees, an all time july record. but the
this is bbc news these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. i m victoria derbyshire. europe wilts under blistering heat wildfires are spreading in portugal, spain and greece as scientists warn that nearly half of eu territory is suffering from drought. in the uk today it could be even hotter than yesterday temperatures up to a2 degrees are expected, a new record. the met office has issued a red extreme heat warning. that is a second day running. the heatwave is taking its toll on the uk rail network, with a wave of cancellations. and there ll be extra ambulances and emergency call handlers as the nhs comes under increased pressure. four candidates remain in the race to be the next british conservative party leader and prime minister. another vote takes place today. ajury in florida will decide