A man watches a fire in a sugar cane plantation near Dumon city, São Paulo, Brazil, on 24 August 2024

Extreme heat across parts of Brazil this week with temperatures about 5C to 10C above the 1991 to 2020 average. Daytime temperatures will reach 35C to 40C in parts of the Central West region, affecting cities such as Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Manaus. This great heat is likely to continue into next week, with temperatures above 40C possible in places.

This heat will amplify the risk of wildfires that have been raging across parts of Brazil, especially across the Amazon rainforest, Cerrado savanna, Pantanal wetlands and the southern state of São Paulo. Local reports say these fires have been exacerbated by high temperatures, strong winds and low relative humidity, with São Paulo and the Amazon suffering the worst fire season in decades.

Over the past week, 2,700 fires have ripped through São Paulo state, and authorities say more than 59,000 hectares (146,000 acres) have been destroyed by the fires. Brazil’s largest sugar group, Raizen SA, has estimated that about 1.8tn tonnes of its sugarcane have been affected by the fires, about 2% of its total forecasted crop for the year.

People in the region have been reporting coughs, a burning sensation at the back of their throats, and reddening of their eyes from smoke in the area. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there have been 53,620 fire spots in the Amazon between 1 January and 27 August this year – an 83% increase on the same period last year.