The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😜
Here is a new feature for this blog, which I will add daily. This is the latest inciteful Green News Report from my friends Desi Doyen and Brad Friedman at Progressive Voices. Hit ‘continue reading,’ listen, then hit return to see my daily topics:
Main Topic: Deadly Spanish Wildfires End Result of Heatwave Ember
Dear Diary. Just like night surely follows day, destructive, deadly wildfires occur as an end result of major heatwaves. So, it’s no surprise that wildfires have erupted across Spain, France and Britain after the heatwave that U dubbed Ember scalded Europe.
What is the state of Ember as of today? Here is what we have at 500 millibars and closer to the surface at 850 millibars:
There is no longer a huge heat dome over Europe, but there is a ridge axis stretching from the U.K. southward to the Sahara keeping the heatwave going for most of Europe.
Here are more details on the Spanish wildfires:
British couple named among 13 killed in Spanish wildfires | Wildfires | The Guardian
British couple named among 13 killed in Spanish wildfires
Pete and Fran Gillam confirmed dead as authorities use DNA samples to identify victims of blaze in Almeríae and Fran Gillam confirmed dead as authorities use DNA samples to identify victims of blaze in Almería
Placards with the names of villas are seen among the burnt landscape days after a wildfire that killed at least 13 people. Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images
Mon 13 Jul 2026
A British couple have been named among the 13 people killed by wildfires in Spain, as authorities race to use DNA to identify victims who were unable to escape the blaze.
Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar, the village that bore the brunt of the wildfires on Thursday, were confirmed dead by their family.
Their daughter Danielle Gillam-Kirton wrote on Facebook: “We are heartbroken to share that we have received confirmation from the police that Mum and Dad did not survive the fire. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers over the past few days. They have meant more to us than we can ever express.”
The family had been searching for the couple since Thursday. Gillam-Kirton’s mother had texted her at about 7pm that evening to say they were evacuating, but the couple had not been heard from since. Messages and calls failed to reach either parent.
Relatives of those missing have been asked to provide DNA samples because many of the victims were so badly burned that they could not otherwise be recognised.
Spanish authorities said on Monday that five British nationals were among the 13 people confirmed to have died. The victims also included three Belgians, one French woman and a Spanish man.
The authorities have cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and the identification of bodies are completed. Officials coordinating the identification work said on Sunday that 10 formal missing-person reports had been submitted.
The fire ripped through the picturesque village, which is home to many Britons, and moved so quickly that some people were unable to escape. Burned-out cars litter the road leading out of Bédar and the authorities confirmed that some victims died in their vehicles as they tried to flee.
One British man died in his car while trying to rescue his pets, according to a friend of his wife. Penelope Howe, 54, said her friend’s husband died when flames engulfed his car during the evacuation of the Los Gallardos area of Almería province.
Howe, who lives near Bédar, said: “She’s in deep shock. At one point he needed to stop and she spoke to him on the phone. He had got the cats and was trapped in the car. They were speaking together for the last few minutes. That was how it ended.”
A relentless heatwave has scorched much of Europe, including Spain, and created the tinderbox conditions that made the wildfire so destructive. Dry vegetation and high temperatures have fuelled blazes across the Iberian peninsula and into France.
Scientists say the fires have been worsened by the climate crisis, which has intensified the recent heatwaves.
“Here climate change is having a very big impact, and we are in a state of climate chaos with situations that are practically unheard of, exceptional and increasingly explosive,” said the leader of Andalucía’s regional government, Juanma Moreno.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the devastating wildfires in Spain. We are supporting British nationals affected and their families and remain in close contact with the Spanish authorities.”
Here are some “ETs” recorded from around the U.S. the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is More Climate News from Tuesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)
If there was a large methane release from the oceans due to global warming, would this be expressed in El\Nino? Or only portion of in same? Could increase water temps far more then expected?
No, a methane release from the oceans would warm the atmosphere, which would eventually affect ENSO as warmer air interacts with the Pacific Ocean but not directly.
Good question.