A temperature of 50.5 ° C was measured Friday in southeast Turkey, an absolute record at the country level, the authorities announced on Saturday.
“According to data from our Directorate General of Meteorology, a temperature record was broken, with 50.5 ° C to Silopi (…) on July 25,” wrote the Turkish Environment Ministry.
According to the authorities, who did not specify when the country’s weather readings went up, 132 weather stations in the country recorded record temperatures on Friday for a month in July.
The locality of Silopi is located in the province of Sirnak, less than 10 km from the Iraqi and Syrian borders. The previous national record, 49.5 ° C, had been measured in August 2023 in the province of Eskisehir (West).
Turkey, plagued by a heat wave, faces fires in several regions. One of them, in the province of Karabük (North), has escaped the efforts of the firefighters for four days and forced the inhabitants of several villages to flee.
According to a study cited in a UN report published in early July, 88% of Turkish territory is exposed to a high risk of desertification.