Extreme temperatures continue to affect large parts of southern Europe
Date: 2025-08-14T07:45:18.000Z
Title: Morning opening: And now we wait
Content: With European leaders sighing relief after their promising coordination call with Trump, there is not much else they can do now other than wait to see what comes out of the US president's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska tomorrow.
Flying in from Berlin where he met German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting UK prime minister Keir Starmer in London this morning to further highlight the European unity ahead of the talks.
Elsewhere, we will be looking at extreme temperatures that continue to affect large parts of southern Europe with dangerous wildfires reported in Spain, Greece, and Albania among others. Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, is expected to hit somewhat extreme 44 Celsius today.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It's Thursday, 14 August 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
European wildfire smoke dampens UK heatwave with unusually hazy conditions
Smoke from wildfires in Southern Europe has brought hazy conditions to the UK, disrupting the current heatwave, forecasters have said. The UK experienced the fourth heatwave of the summer this week, with some areas seeing the mercury climb above 33C in the hottest places. However, the Met Office said "smoke from wildfires in Spain and Portugal, plus Saharan dust, has drifted over the UK'. This means the UK should expect "enhanced sunsets and sunrises in the coming days - deeper reds and oranges thanks to light scattering,' the forecaster added. Scientists say the phenomenon is linked to two processes known as Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering. Rayleigh scattering, caused by tiny air molecules, normally makes the sky appear blue by scattering shorter wavelengths of light, such as violet and blue, according to the Royal Meteorological Society. But larger particles released by wildfires, such as soot and ash, trigger Mie scattering, which scatters all wavelengths more evenly and allows longer red and orange wavelengths to dominate. Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst told Sky News the haze "will hang around for the next few days". The Met Office's forecast for Sunday says low clouds retreating towards the North Sea means there will be 'plenty of sunshine for most'. There will be strong winds in the South West of England, and it will remain warm along the eastern coast. Spain battled 14 major fires driven by high winds and aggravated by heat on Friday as authorities warned of "unfavourable conditions" to tackle flames that have already killed seven people and burned an area the size of London. Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years. An early two-week heatwave and southerly winds were worsening the situation in Spain, Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services, said. Wildfires have burned more than 157,000 hectares in Spain so far this year, almost double the annual average, according to the European Union's Forest Fire Information Service. In neighbouring Portugal, meanwhile, thousands of firefighters were battling five large blazes in central and northern parts of the country, with one fire in Trancoso, some 350 km northeast of Lisbon, now raging for six days. Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The EU monitoring agency says that 2024 was the hottest year on record both globally and in Europe, which experienced its second-highest number of 'heat stress' days.
Sky News
9 hours ago
- Sky News
Why wildfires in Spain and Portugal are having an impact on weather in the UK
Smoke from wildfires in Spain and Portugal has brought hazy conditions to the UK, breaking up last week's spell of very hot weather, forecasters have said. In a post on the X social media platform on Saturday, the Met Office said: "Smoke from wildfires in Spain and Portugal, plus Saharan dust, has drifted over the UK." The Met Office said the UK should expect "enhanced sunsets and sunrises in the coming days - deeper reds & oranges thanks to light scattering." The latest forecast where you are Sky weather producer Kirsty McCabe said "the very hot weather is easing, thanks to a strengthening easterly wind as well as cloudier skies". She said Saturday's haze is down to "the terrible wildfires that have been raging across Spain and Portugal, and the smoke has made its way to our shores, along with some Saharan dust". While the smoke particles shouldn't affect the UK's air quality, she said they will "enhance the orange and red colours of our sunsets and sunrises". Wildfire smoke affects the colour of the sky through processes known as Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering, she explained. On reaching the Earth's atmosphere, the sun's light bumps into tiny molecules of nitrogen and oxygen, which scatter or deflect the light. Kirsty McCabe said Mie scattering occurs "when the [smoke] particles are much larger and closer to the wavelengths of light. "That means the smoke particles in the air scatter all colours of light more equally, leading to a hazy or milky appearance of the sun and sky." Rayleigh scattering sees the shorter wavelengths of light, blues and violets, scattered most strongly, while red light, having the longest wavelength, is scattered the least, she explained. "At dusk and dawn, the sun's rays travel through a greater distance of atmosphere to reach our eyes, so the blue light has been scattered even more. "With most of the shorter blue and violet wavelengths filtered out, along with some green and yellow, that leaves us with the warmer hues of the reds and oranges." Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said the haze "will hang around for the next few days". He predicted temperatures in the mid to high twenties, rising to 28C in some parts, with hazy sunshine moving from southwest England into Wales and Northern Ireland. At least seven people have died in wildfires in Spain as firefighters battled 14 major blazes on Friday, fanned by strong southerly winds and high temperatures from a nearly two-week heatwave. An area the size of London has been destroyed by wildfires so far this year, with western Spain especially badly affected. Southern Europe is having one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years, with France, Greece, Turkey and Albania among the countries affected. While Southern Europe lived through wildfires, droughts and heatwaves long before humans started to change the climate by burning fossil fuels, hotter global temperatures can supercharge some of the conditions for these types of extreme weather, according to climate scientists.
The Sun
9 hours ago
- The Sun
Saharan dust cloud & Spain wildfire smoke blanket UK in Met Office satellite map – as temps to hit 30C this weekend
BRITAIN'S skies are not as bright blue today - and the Met Office has revealed the reason why, though there's a potential bonus coming. It's thanks to smoke from wildfires in Spain and Portugal, as well as Saharan dust that's "drifted over the UK". 5 5 5 But there is a potential upside - the national weather agency said Brits can expect "enhanced sunsets and sunrises in the coming days", adding: "Deeper reds and oranges thanks to light scattering." It comes as thousands of people are expected to flock to beaches across this weekend with forecasts of up to 29C on Sunday. As Brits head into Saturday evening, the forecaster predicts it will be a mainly dry night with the clearest skies appearing in the west. While most parts of the UK will remain dry, it's expected that some light rain will fall across the Shetland Islands. Cloud will build up across central and eastern areas, but will be less extensive than Friday night. Winds in the southwest will remain strong across some parts. Low cloud will gradually retreat towards the North Sea coastal areas as Sunday day gets underway, leaving most places to bask in plenty of sunshine. The strong winds in the southwest though will continue. While it will be very warm once again for most people, it will feel fresher along the eastern coast. Looking further ahead into Monday and the early part of the working week it looks to be more of the same. Little-known iPhone trick helps you dodge surprise rain with last-minute warning Any early morning cloud in the east will break up, giving way to sunny spells. Western parts could see some showers but it will be the warmest part of the country with winds easing off. Yellow warnings have been put in place for various areas of the country by the UK Health Security Agency. This includes Yorkshire and the Humber, the East and West Midlands, London and the South East, the South West and the east of England. Heat health alerts have also been extended into next week for much of England. The hot weather has resulted in a surge of vehicle breakdowns, the RAC reports. They have received 10 per cent more call outs this week when compared to the same period of Monday to Thursday last week. The yellow warnings are set to remain in place until 6pm on Monday, August 18. 5 5
