September begins with improvements in the forest fire situation.

Madrid, Sep 1 (EFE).- With the arrival of meteorological autumn, the intense fire season that ravaged Spain in August is over, and September begins with a calmer situation, with Galicia fire-free and Castile and León with six fires, all at the minimum danger level.

After a warmer and drier than normal August, which burned more than 300,000 hectares and left four dead and 48 injured, September has arrived with rain forecast for the northern peninsula and the Balearic Islands this week.

The risk of fires this Monday is generally lower than in previous days, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), which has warned that there are still areas at very high or extreme risk, especially in the east and south of the peninsula.

This Monday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez presented the outlines of his proposed State Climate Pact, which include the creation of a new State Agency for Civil Protection and Emergencies, the provision of more permanent resources by all public administrations, the strengthening of rural areas, and the establishment of a civic culture of protection.

He also announced that the Council of Ministers will approve this Tuesday "the roadmap to implement this State pact."

On Sunday, the director of Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, confirmed that, after more than 20 consecutive days of relentless fighting against the flames, circumstances had improved enough to move from the "pre-emergency" phase to a "state of alert and permanent monitoring."

Meteorological autumn

The extreme heat wave that affected much of August was, according to Barcones, "the most intense and the third longest since at least 1975."

High temperatures and very low humidity levels, which made it difficult to stabilize the fires, were compounded by strong gusts of wind and shifting dry storms, which contributed to worsening the situation.

The meteorological autumn that began this Monday and will continue until November 30th is marking below-normal temperatures, with fluctuating temperatures throughout the week. Precipitation will affect the north of the peninsula and, in the form of storms in the northeast and the Balearic Islands, potentially being locally heavy.

Improvements in fires

The fire that broke out early this morning in the municipality of Gibraleón, in the province of Huelva, was declared stabilized at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, as it was progressing favorably and had no active fronts, according to the Andalusian Forest Fire Prevention and Extinction Service (Plan Infoca).

Regarding the fire that broke out last Thursday in Lubrín (Almería), the Infoca Plan declared it under control this Monday after affecting 1,116 hectares, bringing the total area damaged in Andalusia so far this year to 6,151.

In Castile and León, one of the regions hardest hit by the fires this August, six fires remain active, all at the minimum level on the Potential Severity Index, after the ones in Porto (Zamora), one of the most dangerous of the summer, and in Barniedo de la Reina (León), decreased yesterday, Sunday.

Galicia has been fire-free since Sunday, after the three mega-fires in the region this summer were extinguished: the Larouco blaze, which reached the province of Lugo; the Chandrexa de Queixa-Vilariño de Conso blaze; and the Oímbra-Xinzo blaze, which affected more than 78,500 hectares, according to estimates by the Xunta (regional government).