Spain, France battle wildfires as intense heat grips southern Europe

Firefighters battling wildfires in Spain ​and France on Wednesday said the risk of more blazes over the coming days was very high, even as a major fire raging in Spain's central Guadalajara province receded, allowing some ‌residents to return home, Reuters reported.

Wildfires have burnt more land in Europe already this year than the annual average in the past two decades, data shows as the world's fastest-warming continent has endured three stifling, virtually back-to-back heatwaves so far this year.

In France, where two firefighters died on Tuesday as their truck was engulfed in flames in the southwest region of Gironde, authorities urged people to avoid using barbecues in areas hit by heatwaves, stressing that nine out of 10 wildfires start, accidentally or not, as a result of human activity.

Meanwhile, in the Western Balkans, the danger has shifted from heatwaves to hailstorms, with several people injured in North Macedonia and eastern Kosovo.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the intensity of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, while also creating conditions for sudden, destructive storms.

The Reuters Climate Monitor, an interactive tool providing real-time data, showed the average ⁠high temperature across Western Europe is forecast to be 26.6 degrees Celsius (79.8 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 3 degrees above the normal high for July 22 in the period from 1961 to 1990.