Wildfires rage across southern Europe as temperatures pass 40C
Hundreds of Tres Cantos residents were forced to leave their homes amid Spain's wildfires and the regional environment minister described the fire as having "explosive characteristics because of a dry storm that has brought winds of more than 70km/h (43.5mph)".Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X on Tuesday and said that rescue services "are working tirelessly to extinguish the fires". "We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious," he added.In Spain's north-western region of Castile and Leon, almost 4,000 people were evacuated and more than 30 blazes were reported - with one threatening Las Medulas, a Unesco World Heritage site renowned for its ancient gold mines.Another 2,000 people were evacuated from hotels and homes near the tourist hotspot of Tarifa in the southern region of Andalusia.Almost 1,000 soldiers were deployed to battle wildfires around the country, Spain's national military emergency unit said on Tuesday morning.In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires, with the most serious near Trancoso contained in the centre of the country on Tuesday.
More than 1,300 firefighters and 14 aircraft were deployed, with Morocco sending two planes after Portuguese water bombers broke down, Reuters reported. Authorities warned southern regions could hit 44C, with the temperature not expected to dip below 25C.One child died of heatstroke in Italy on Monday, where temperatures of 40C are expected to hit later this week and red heat alerts were in place for 16 cities including Rome, Milan and Florence.The four-year-old Romanian boy, who was found unconscious in a car in Sardinia was airlifted to a hospital in Rome but died due to irreversible brain damage, reportedly caused by heatstroke, medical authorities told AFP.Almost three-quarters of France was placed under heat alerts on Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to top 36C in the Paris region and 40C in the Rhône Valley.French Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said hospitals were braced for fallout from the country's second heatwave in just a few weeks. On Monday, 80 weather stations broke August records, 58 reaching all-time highs.
In Greece, gale-force winds fanned fires on tourist islands Zakynthos and Cephalonia, prompting village and hotel evacuations. Another blaze near the western Greek town Vonitsa threatened homes, while four areas of the mainland also faced evacuations.Turkey's northwestern Canakkale province saw a major fire force hundreds from their homes. Canakkale Governor Omer Toraman said in a post on X that seven planes and six helicopters were tackling the blaze on Tuesday.He added the Dardanelles Strait, a waterway linking the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, was closed to allow water-dropping planes and helicopters to operate safely.Wildfires in Albania forced people to evacuate their homes on Monday, while in Croatia a large fire raged in Split and was contained on Tuesday. A major wildfire swept through Piperi village near Montenegro's capital Podgorica, devastating houses in the area.Parts of the UK are sweltering in its fourth heatwave of the year, with amber and yellow heat health alerts in place for all of England and potential highs of 34C forecast.Scientists warn global warming is making Mediterranean summers hotter and drier, fuelling longer and more intense fire seasons.
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The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Warnings issued for thunderstorms and high temperatures as heatwave continues
Weather warnings have been issued for thunderstorms and heat alerts extended as the fourth heatwave of the summer continues. The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning covering northern Scotland until 10pm on Thursday. Flood alerts have also been issued for Scotland. It comes as heat health alerts were extended into next week for much of England. The UK Health Security Agency said yellow warnings will now be in place for Yorkshire and Humber, the East and West Midlands, London and the South East, South West and East of England until 6pm on August 18. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said heavy thundery showers or rain may affect the region on Thursday, with a risk of significant localised flooding effects from surface water and smaller rivers. Heavy rain and thunder hit London and Kent on Wednesday afternoon. But officials have said England is suffering from 'nationally significant' water shortfalls. The national drought group – which includes the Met Office, regulators, government, water companies and other organisations – has met as five areas of the country remain in drought, with six more in prolonged dry weather status. On Thursday, there will be residual showers and isolated thunderstorms across the South East, gradually clearing, and lightning, hail and heavy rain drifting northwards from Scotland into the Northern Isles. Paul Gundersen, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: 'Some areas will continue to experience their fourth heatwave of the summer so far, with Thursday remaining warm or very warm for many, though cooler near coasts. 'Temperatures could still reach 30C in eastern England, though many areas will be a few degrees cooler than earlier in the week.' Northern England will have patchy rain and cloud on Friday while southern England will enjoy sunshine and temperatures of up to 31C. The weekend should be dry and sunny for most parts of the UK, climbing to 30C on Saturday and 29C on Sunday in south-west England.
The Sun
10 minutes ago
- The Sun
Thousands of drivers left with big repair bills after hot summer weather makes UK's potholes worse
HOT summer weather is making potholes worse — leaving thousands with big car repair bills. The AA had more than 50,000 calls last month from drivers with vehicles damaged by the craters. 2 It said high temperatures had broken up already weak roads by softening the bitumen in asphalt, making surfaces more susceptible to deformation. Worn tyres are also more likely to fail in heat, while warmer weather has seen a rise in tourists using poorly maintained rural roads. Potholes can cause broken suspension springs, distorted wheels and damaged shock absorbers. The average repair bill for anything more than a puncture was £460, figures show. AA president Edmund King said: 'This summer's heatwave has starkly exposed the fragility of Britain's roads. 'We urge the Government and local authorities to redouble their efforts in tackling the pothole crisis, prioritising rural routes and frequently used cycling and motorcycling corridors.' Sir Keir Starmer has called on councils to 'get on with the job' of mending the menaces. The cost of bringing local roads across England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at a record £16.8billion. Local roads maintenance funding for this financial year is nearly £1.6billion, up £500million on the previous year. It is estimated to be enough to fix around seven million potholes. 2
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Brit hotspots are burning: Three are killed as wildfires tear through Greek Islands, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans as heatwaves hell continues
Deadly wildfires which have claimed the lives of at least three people have spread across several British tourist hotspots forcing thousands of evacuations as a scorching heatwave continues to tear through Europe. Sunseekers have been fleeing Greece 's Zakynthos and Kefalonia islands 'by the minute' as raging infernos continue to rip through the Med. A British bar worker on Zakynthos told Sky News he joined emergency services and locals to help combat a 'shocking' fire near a popular tourist resort. Since dawn on Wednesday, 4,850 firefighters backed by the army and 33 planes were mobilised across Greece on what promised to be 'a very difficult day', fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. In popular party-resort Laganas, officials ordered young Brit revellers to leave hotels as a 'precautionary measure' after the fires shot clouds of black smoke over the area. 'It's a cocktail of high temperatures, strong winds... and minimal humidity,' the head of civil protection for Western Greece, Nikos Gyftakis, told public broadcaster ERT. One local official spoke of 'an unending nightmare' as a blaze near the ancient Mycenaean archaeological site of Voudeni, just four miles from Patras, Greece's third-largest city, threatened forested zones and homes, while 7,700 people were evacuated from a nearby town. Meanwhile, some 15 firefighters were injured overnight while hundreds of locals and tourists are being treated for respiratory problems in hospital. Fire brigade spokesperson, Vasillis Vathrakogiannis said: 'It will be another very difficult day, as the wildfire risk for most of the country's regions will be very high.' In a scene he likened to 'doomsday', Giorgos Karavanis, a volunteer firefighter said: 'We came from Athens with our volunteer association Kleisthenis, we can't do anything more. He added: 'May God help us and help people here.' Officials evacuated 12 children from a Patras hospital, Vathrakogiannis said. Eighty elderly people were removed from a retirement home, and local media footage showed the roof of a nearby 17th-century monastery ablaze. Meanwhile, in the western Achaia region in the Peloponnese, to which the coastal city of Patras belongs, around 20 villages were evacuated on Tuesday. Other fronts were burning on the popular tourist island of Zante and the Aegean island of Chios, scarred by a huge wildfire in June that ravaged more than 4,000 hectares. The Greek coastguard said it had helped evacuate nearly 80 people from Chios and near Patras. The national ambulance service reported 52 hospitalisations from Achaia, Chios and the western town of Preveza, including 'a small number of firefighters', mostly for respiratory problems and minor burns. After Greece requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to bolster its resources, leftist opposition party Syriza criticised the conservative government's preparation for the fires that hit every year. Greece needed 'a bold redistribution of resources in favour of civil protection', an 'emphasis on prevention', better coordination and new technologies in its civil protection system, Syriza said. Earlier this week, the Keratea region, south of Athens was decimated by raging wildfires with up to 16,000 acres of land decimated. An elderly man was found dead inside his bed by firefighters who have been tirelessly battling against the numerous blazes. More than 260 firefighters with nearly 80 fire engines along with 12 aircraft were deployed near Keratea. Dimitris Loukas, mayor of the city of nearby Lavrio, said the Keratea fire destroyed dozens of homes, agriculture and forest land. Meanwhile, last month on the island of Kythera, authorities evacuated the villages of Aroniadika, Pitsinades and Aryoi. In the area of Messinia, west of Athens, residents of the Kryoneri and Sellas villages were also told to leave. It comes as Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the Balkans and Britain have this week wilted in high temperatures that fuel wildfires and which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying. Wildfires have continued to rip through Spain, where cooler temperatures and greater humidity were expected to help control blazes in which two people have died. Authorities in the northwestern region of Castile and Leon, where flames have threatened a world heritage Roman mining site, said almost 6,000 people from 26 localities had been evacuated from their homes. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said late Wednesday that Spain had asked the European Union for help, including the deployment of two water-bombing planes. He urged European partners to deploy the planes quickly given 'weather forecasts' that could worsen the blazes, telling broadcaster Cadena Ser radio that Spain would also request firefighter deployments if necessary. Bushy undergrowth and searing temperatures that have baked Spain for almost two weeks had created 'the worst possible breeding ground for this situation', Castile and Leon's civil protection head Irene Cortes said. Madrid was hit by fireballs on Monday night as a hellish blaze fuelled by strong winds burned several houses in the capital's suburbs. At least 180 people were evacuated overnight from Tres Cantos, an affluent suburb northeast of Madrid, after wildfires tore through homes and farmland. A farmer who had been taken by helicopter to the La Paz hospital after suffering burns on 98 percent of his body, later died, the Community of Madrid confirmed on Tuesday. He reportedly sustained his injuries while trying to rescue 27 horses, who were also killed in the blaze. Spanish authorities said today a 35-year-old volunteer firefighter died on Tuesday while trying to extinguish a wildfire. Kings College, a prestigious British private school, is also understood to have suffered some damage, and a donkey shelter burned down. Due to the speed of winds, the flames quickly spread and reached the Norman pharmaceutical laboratories, where sounds of explosions were reportedly heard. 'In barely 40 minutes, the fire advanced six kilometres,' Carlos Novillo, Madrid's regional environment chief, told reporters. The inferno then spread to the adjacent affluent suburbs of Fuente del Fresno and Soto de Viñuelas, where residents remained on evacuation alerts overnight. Footage shared on social media showed how flames spread through forested areas, while thick smoke billowed into the sky. Other videos showed how strong winds pushed blazes across fields as fire services rushed to contain the inferno. Firefighters managed to contain the wildfire near the Spanish capital by Tuesday morning thanks to favourable overnight conditions, regional authorities said. A total of 199 wildfires have scorched nearly 98,784 hectares across Spain this year, more than double the area burned during the same period in 2024. Neighbouring Portugal deployed more than 2,100 firefighters and 20 aircraft against five major blazes, with efforts focused on a fire in the central municipality of Trancoso that has raged since Saturday. Strong gusts of wind had rekindled flames overnight and threatened nearby villages, where television images showed locals volunteering to help firefighters under a thick cloud of smoke. 'It's scary... but we are always ready to help each other,' a mask-wearing farmer told Sic Noticias television, holding a spade in his hand. A separate fire in a mountainous zone of Arganil in central Portugal smothered several villages with smoke, prompting the evacuation of elderly residents in particular. Italian firefighters had also extinguished a blaze that burned for five days on the famed Mount Vesuvius and spewed plumes of smoke over the Naples area. In the Balkans, dozens of blazes stretched emergency services in the Balkans, where a severe drought and a prolonged heatwave have exacerbated the region's traditional fire season. An 80-year-old man died in Albania late Tuesday after he lost control of a fire he had started in his garden. The blaze quickly spread to neighbouring homes, injuring eight people. An Italian Canadair CL-415 aircraft flies over a wildfire near the town of Delvine, southeast Albania on August 13, 2025 Authorities have evacuated residents in parts of central and southern Albania, but easing weather conditions in neighbouring Montenegro helped firefighters protect homes. The country mourned a soldier who died in a water truck overturn near the capital Podgorica on Tuesday, with the defence ministry speaking of a 'heavy loss'. In Britain, temperatures were expected to peak at 34C in the country's fourth heatwave of the summer. The UK Health Security Agency warned of 'significant impacts' on health and social care services for the parts of central and southeastern England where the harshest heat was forecast.
