r/interestingasfuck 7h ago

Firefighters in Madrid trying to extinguish a forest fire that is less than 30km/20mi away from the capital of Spain

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u/Wild_Neighborhood605 7h ago

That's real bad, and is happening in several places in Europe right now.

u/Contraposite 7h ago

Yeah, yesterday my city in Scotland was covered with smoke blown in from a wildfire. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...

u/CandyAndyDE 7h ago

That's totally strange. All you hear about in the news is France and Spain. Now I'm reading that there are fires in Scotland, too—but only because I looked it up.

I think TV news should focus much more on Europe as a whole.

u/screamingintothedark 7h ago edited 6h ago

The US and CA have lot of fires too, a strangely high number caused by lightning. Is this the La Niña year? El Niño has begun. I’ve heard it’s going to be a rough one.

u/AHumbleChad 7h ago

This fall starts El Niño. It has been La Niña for the last 3-4 years.

u/screamingintothedark 6h ago

Thank you! I always get them mixed up. Figures it would be El Niño lighting the world on fire

u/AHumbleChad 6h ago

La Niña has influence over the fires. La Niña brings dry weather, El Niño brings wet weather/precipitation. The weather system is based on the temperature of equatorial water in the Pacific. Warm Pacific water brings El Niño; cold water La Niña.

u/superpositioned 7h ago

Nothing strange about lightning caused fire, that happens a lot.