Heatwaves and Fires

The Tenerife Island Corporation is asking for extreme caution this weekend, as a dusty calima and a heatwave inundate the Tenerife capital and take temperatures up to 40 degrees centigrade in some parts of Tenerife and in Gran Canaria.

Two fires were declared on the island of La Gomera this afternoon, one requiring the evacuation of homes in Vallehermoso, while the other threatening to reach the national park Parque Nacional de Garajonay.

Meanwhile, in Tenerife, the Island Corporation have stepped in with preventative measures, declaring a prohibition on barbecue fires.

Barbecues are to be cordoned off in the forest areas around Teide, Anaga and in Teno, which is a hardly surprising reaction after the forest fires that destroyed around a quarter of the island's forests during the heatwave at the end of last July.

It is, however, unusual to have this extreme heat, this early in the year.

Health recommendations are to drink lots of liquids (but not alcohol, sorry), avoid severe physical exercise (we're happy to comply) and, if you suffer from ashma or cardiovascular problems, you'd be better off indoors, with the windows shut.

Forecasters predict more of the same until at least Sunday.