Wildfires rage in Spain and Portugal amid searing heat

 

Firefighting efforts continue in Ourense, Spain. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

by  Ajit Niranjan and Sam Jones

Extreme temperatures exacerbated by carbon pollution fuel fires in southern Europe as green policies are rolled back 

 

Relentless heat and raging wildfires continue to ravage southern Europe, with one-quarter of weather stations in Spain recording 40C temperatures, as the prime minister urged people to “leave the climate emergency outside of partisan struggles”.

The Spanish weather agency Aemet recorded a high of 45.8C in Cádiz on Sunday, while one in eight weather stations nationwide hit peaks of at least 42C (108F) . The agency warned of “very high or extreme fire danger” in most of the country in a post on social media on Monday.

“Although the heatwave is starting to subside, very high temperatures will still be reached today in the east and south of the peninsula,” it said. “Be cautious.”

A pyrocumulus cloud swells over Vilarmel village during a fire in the Galicia region of Spain. Photograph: Mikel Konate/Reuters

Deadly fires have burned 348,000 hectares in Spain this year, according to preliminary data published by Copernicus on Monday, charring even more land than when the previous record was set in 2022.

A fourth person was killed by the fires in Spain when a firefighting truck overturned on a steep forest road, while in neighbouring Portugal, which has also had extreme heat, another firefighter died, bringing the national death toll to two. Civil protection authorities said 31,130 people have been evacuated from their homes in the last week.

The Spanish government said on Sunday that an extra 500 soldiers would join the 1,400 troops trying to bring deadly wildfires under control. The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced a “state pact” to tackle the climate emergency as he visited Ourense and León, one of the regions engulfed by flames.

 

“We need a strategy that anticipates a better, more secure and more equitable response for our fellow citizens in the face of the worsening and accelerating effects of the climate emergency in our country,” Sánchez said. “And that requires a great state pact that leaves the climate emergency outside of partisan struggles and ideological issues, where we focus on scientific evidence and act accordingly.”

Sánchez’s proposed pact received a dismissive response from the opposition conservative People’s party (PP), which has called for more troop deployments and accused the prime minister of absenting himself from the crisis.

 

“State pacts don’t put out the flames, nor do they restore what’s been lost,” said Ester Muñoz, a PP spokesperson. “People were expecting a lot more than a smokescreen designed to save his reputation after he’d gone missing for a week.”

Extreme heat, made hotter by carbon pollution, has fuelled devastating wildfires across southern Europe this month, the latest in a series of disasters exacerbated by climate breakdown amid a continental rollback of green policies.

Data from last week shows the blazes have burned at least 530,000 hectares this year, more than double the average over the past two decades, forcing several overwhelmed governments from Spain to Bulgaria to seek firefighting help from the EU. Portugal activated the EU’s civil protection mechanism on Friday with a request for four Canadair water-bombing planes.

 The prolonged heatwave has broken temperature records across the continent. It is expected to die down in Spain after Monday and subsided in some countries over the weekend.

 

Météo France, the French national weather agency, said temperatures had fallen on Sunday but the wildfire risk remained high or very high in several southern regions.

“The Mediterranean and south-western departments of the country are experiencing significant drought, which means that vegetation is highly sensitive to fire,” the agency said on Monday. It added that the rise in daytime temperatures had been limited by smoke from the Spanish and Portuguese wildfires, as well as plumes of Saharan sand.

In Portugal, which has been under a state of alert since the start of the month, large rural fires have killed two people and caused several injuries.

The head of a dead fish lies in the almost-dry Aume riverbed in Saint-Fraigne, France. Photograph: Yohan Bonnet/AP

The minister for internal affairs, Maria Lúcia Amaral, extended the wildfire alert on Sunday until Tuesday night but left a press conference when journalists tried to ask questions, Portuguese media reported. André Ventura, the head of the far-right Chega party, called for her resignation. “We are reaching the limit of what is acceptable,” he said on Sunday.

In a radio interview on Monday morning, Spain’s defence minister, Margarita Robles, said the fires were unlikely to be brought under control until the heatwave ended later on Monday. “We’re not going to be able to end this situation until the heatwave dies down,” Robles told Cadena Ser. “We’re seeing fires with different characteristics because of climate change.”

A woman flees as a forest fire gathers pace in Pampilhosa da Serra, Portugal. Photograph: Paulo Cunha/EPA
 

 She said the Military Emergencies Unit (UME), founded to help deal with disasters, had never faced such challenging conditions. “We’re seeing a fire situation that’s never been seen before. The UME hasn’t seen anything like this since it was established 20 years ago.”

Wildfires close Mount Vesuvius trails while fierce blazes continue in France. French officials says heatwave in southern Europe complicates efforts to contain biggest wildfire since 1949

 

Tackling the Vesuvius wildfire

by Angela Giuffrida in Rome

 

Tourist trails have been closed on Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy as firefighters tackle a huge blaze on the volcano’s slopes, while officials warned of another “challenging day” for those working to contain France’s biggest wildfire since 1949.

The wildfire on Mount Vesuvius, close to Naples, broke out a few days ago and by Saturday afternoon had stretched to about 3km (1.9 miles) wide, destroying hundreds of hectares of woodland and killing wild animals. Thick smoke could be seen from Pompeii and Naples.

Six Canadair firefighting planes have been dispatched from the state fleet and teams made up of firefighters, soldiers, forestry corps, police and civil protection volunteers from across Italy are working on the ground.

Flames and smoke rise from a wildfire at the Vesuvius national park in Terzigno on Saturday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Drones were being used to monitor the spread of the fire, the national fire service said. The operation has been complicated by the latest heatwave.

Vesuvius national park authorities said the volcano’s trail network had been closed for safety reasons and to facilitate firefighting and clean-up operations in the areas affected. Pompeii’s archaeological park remains open to the public.

The fire has mainly affected the Terzigno pine forest as well as woodlands close to the small towns of Trecase, Ercolano and Ottaviano at the foot of the volcano.

Francesco Ranieri, the mayor of Terzigno, told Italian media the situation on Saturday night was “very critical” although the efforts of firefighters ensured the flames did not reach any homes.

The cause of the fire has not been identified although there are strong suspicions that it was arson, with Ranieri suggesting there may be “a criminal hand” behind it.

The fires have charred and destroyed the landscape in Jonquières, France. Photograph: Getty Images

Firefighters in France’s southern Aude region, meanwhile, have managed to contain a massive wildfire, which killed one person and injured several others, although authorities warned that work on Sunday would be complicated by intense heat and a hot, dry wind.

“It’s a challenging day, given that we are likely to be on red alert for heatwave from 6pm, which will not make things any easier,” said Christian Pouget, the prefect of the Aude department.

Europe is far from alone in suffering frequent wildfires. The weather conditions in which they flourish, marked by heat, drought and strong winds, is increasing in some parts of all continents.

A vintage Citreon car burnt by a wildfire in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, France. Photograph: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

Human-caused climate breakdown is responsible for a higher likelihood of fire and bigger burned areas in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the US and Australia, with some scientific evidence of increases in southern China.

Climate breakdown has increased the wildfire season by about two weeks on average across the globe.

About 100 people missing as flash flood tears through town in northern India. Large-scale search and rescue operation under way after at least four people killed in Himalayan region

 

Footage shows raging flash flood tearing into Indian town of Dharali – video

Agence France-Press in Dehradun

 

A torrent of mud from a flash flood has smashed into a town in India’s Himalayan region, tearing down a mountain valley before demolishing buildings and killing at least four people, with about 100 others missing.

Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away blocks of flats in the tourist region of Dharali in Uttarakhand state.

Several people could be seen running before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris that uprooted buildings.

The Indian defence minister, Sanjay Seth, told the Press Trust of India news agency: “It is a serious situation … We have received information about four deaths and around 100 people missing. We pray for their safety.”

 

The Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams had been deployed “on a war footing”.

A senior local official, Prashant Arya, said four people had been killed, with other officials saying that the number could rise.

India’s army said 150 troops had reached the town, helping to rescue about 20 people who had survived the wall of freezing sludge. “A massive mudslide struck Dharali … triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the settlement,” the army said.

Images released by the army, taken from the site after the main torrent had passed, showed a river of slow-moving mud.

A swathe of the town was swamped by deep debris. In places, the mud lapped at the rooftops of houses.

“Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, with all available resources being deployed to locate and evacuate any remaining stranded persons,” an army spokesperson, Suneel Bartwal, said.

The prime minister, Narendra Modi, expressed his condolences, and said that “no stone is being left unturned in providing assistance”.

Dhami said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense “cloudburst”, calling the destruction “extremely sad and distressing”.

The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning for the area, saying it had recorded “extremely heavy” rainfall of about 21cm (8in) in isolated parts of Uttarakhand.

Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say the climate crisis, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said last year that more intense floods and droughts are a “distress signal” for what is to come as climate breakdown makes the planet’s water cycle ever more unpredictable.

Eastern US swelters from heatwave as high temperatures affect half of country. Heat and humidity are stretching east from the Mississippi River valley, and some areas could see heat indices of 120F

A young boy plays in the splash fountain at the Christian Science Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, on 16 July 2025. Photograph: Cj Gunther/EPA

 

 by Marina Dunbar

The eastern half of the US is facing a significant heatwave, with more than 185 million people under warnings due to intense and widespread heat conditions on Monday.

The south-east is likely to endure the most dangerous temperatures as the extreme heat spread across the region on Monday, spanning from the Carolinas through Florida. In these areas, heat index values (how hot it feels once humidity is accounted for) are forecast to range between 105 and 113F (40.5 to 45C).

Some locations in Mississippi and Louisiana face an even greater threat, with the heat index possibly soaring as high as 120F (49C).

Meanwhile, the midwest isn’t escaping the heat. Conditions there remain hazardous into Monday and Tuesday, after a weekend in which temperatures felt as if they were between 97 and 111F (36 to 44C) in areas from Lincoln, Nebraska, north to Minneapolis.

 

Cities such as Des Moines, St Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, Jacksonville and Raleigh are under extreme heat warnings. In these locations, temperatures will climb into the mid-90s and low 100s, with heat indices potentially reaching 110 to 115F.

The most dangerous conditions, classified as level 4 out of 4 on the heat risk scale, encompass much of Florida and extend north into Georgia and the Carolinas. A broader level 3 zone stretches from the eastern plains through the midwest and into the mid-Atlantic. This follows a weekend already dominated by extreme temperatures.

 

Tampa experienced an unprecedented milestone on Sunday when it reached 100F (37.8C). Other cities also broke daily temperature records, and more are expected to follow suit.

The dangerous heat and humidity are expected to persist through midweek, affecting major metropolitan areas including St Louis, Memphis, Charlotte, Savannah, Tampa and Jackson, Mississippi. Actual air temperatures will climb into the upper 90s and low 100s, while heat index readings are expected to remain between 105 and 115F for several days due to high tropical moisture.

Relief will be hard to find, even during the night. Overnight and early morning temperatures are forecast to dip only into the 70s or above, keeping conditions uncomfortable around the clock.

However, a cold front moving in later this week is expected to bring a drop in temperatures across the eastern US, offering a much-needed break from the extreme heat by the weekend.

Elsewhere, triple-digit temperatures will dominate the central US. The combination of soaring heat and dense humidity in the Mississippi River valley and central plains could make conditions especially hazardous, with some areas possibly seeing the heat index reach 120F.

 

Data suggests that there are more than 1,300 deaths per year in the US due to extreme heat, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. While no one single weather event can be blamed on the global climate crisis, the warming world is experiencing a greater frequency of extreme weather incidents.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), excessive heat is already the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the US, and the problem is only intensifying. For vulnerable populations, such as migrants, prisoners or schoolchildren in under-cooled buildings, the burden of rising temperatures is compounded.

Despite the increasingly crucial need to find solutions for the rising temperatures, many US agencies are currently understaffed due to cuts from the Trump administration and the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge).

Federal science agencies such as Noaa are now operating at reduced capacity despite the outsized weather threats. Hundreds of meteorologists have left the National Weather Service in recent months, and several offices, including Houston, have had to scale back the services they provide.

 

US heat dome causes dangerous conditions for more than 100 million people. High temperatures and humidity across north-eastern coast increase risk of heat exhaustion, illnesses and death

 

The view of New York City from along the riverfront amid an extreme heat warning, in Hoboken, New Jersey on 25 July 2025. Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters

Nina Lakhani

 

More than a 100 million people in the US will face dangerous conditions over the weekend as a heat dome which has scorched much of the center of the country nudges eastward.

Heat advisories were in place on Friday all across the north-eastern coast from Portland, Maine to Wilmington, North Carolina, with the daytime heat index temperatures 10 to 15F above average in some places.

Overnight temperatures will also be very warm and oppressively muggy, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

While thunderstorms, some of them severe, are expected to break the heat by Friday night for the north-east, heat and humidity will continue to build further south with the most persistent and dangerous conditions expected across the south-east and Tennessee Valley this weekend.

 

The heat index is what the temperature feels like when humidity is taken into account. New York City is forecast to swelter under a 106F heat index on Friday afternoon – slightly higher than Phoenix, Arizona, the hottest major city in the US.

In the south-east, the heat index could exceed 115F, risking the health and lives of people without access to sufficient cooling and/or adequate hydration, the NWS warned. “This will be a long duration heat wave, with little to no overnight relief and high humidity levels, leading to an increased danger,” the federal service warned.

High temperatures and high humidity increase the risk of heat exhaustion, heat illnesses and death, with children, older people and those with existing physical and mental health conditions at highest risk. Outdoor workers – gardeners, builders, farmers, and delivery workers – along with unhoused people and those with substance use issues are particularly vulnerable.

A heat dome is a particular weather phenomenon where hot air is trapped over a region by a stalled high-pressure system causing high temperatures on the ground. With little cloud cover due to the stuck high-pressure system, the sun’s rays directly hit the ground, further increasing the heat.

While heat domes cause heatwaves – which are becoming more frequent thanks to the climate crisis – there can be heatwaves without heat domes. Climate scientists have found that heat domes are getting hotter due to global heating caused by humans burning fossil fuels.

And while the latest dome in the US is moving slowly, it continues to cause dangerous conditions in parts of the mid-south to mid-Mississippi Valley, with heat alerts still in place from Oklahoma to West Virginia.

In the so-called corn belt, the midwestern and some southern states where most corn is farmed, a phenomenon known as corn sweat exacerbates the humidity, and can increase the heat index by as much as 10F. This is due to the pores on the underside of maize leaves, where oxygen – and water vapor – are released, Justin Glisan , state climatologist of Iowa, said in an interview with CBS News.

Meteorologists have also forecast flash flooding from north-east Kansas to much of Indiana, as well as possible scattered thunderstorms across parts of New England, the northern Mid-Atlantic, and North Dakota. Meanwhile dry, windy conditions have triggered a red flag wildfire warning for parts of Utah and Oregon.

Extreme heat is a killer. A recent heat wave shows how much more deadly it’s becoming

The thermometer of a drugstore shows the temperature of 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) during a heat wave, in Rome, Tuesday, July 1, 2025.

Andrew Medichini/AP

 

 By

Laura Paddison

 

 

Extreme heat is a killer and its impact is becoming far, far deadlier as the human-caused climate crisis supercharges temperatures, according to a new study, which estimates global warming tripled the number of deaths in the recent European heat wave.

For more than a week, temperatures in many parts of Europe spiked above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Tourist attractions closed, wildfires ripped through several countries, and people struggled to cope on a continent where air conditioning is rare.

The outcome was deadly. Thousands of people are estimated to have lost their lives, according to a first-of-its-kind rapid analysis study published Wednesday.

A team of researchers, led by Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, looked at 10 days of extreme heat between June 23 and July 2 across 12 European cities, including London, Paris, Athens, Madrid and Rome.

They used historical weather data to calculate how intense the heat would have been if humans had not burned fossil fuels and warmed the world by 1.3 degrees Celsius. They found climate change made Europe’s heat wave 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 7.2 Fahrenheit) hotter.

The scientists then used research on the relationship between heat and daily deaths to estimate how many people lost their lives. 

 

They found approximately 2,300 people died during ten days of heat across the 12 cities, around 1,500 more than would have died in a world without climate change. In other words, global heating was responsible for 65% of the total death toll.

“The results show how relatively small increases in the hottest temperatures can trigger huge surges in death,” the study authors wrote.

Heat has a particularly pernicious impact on people with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and respiratory problems.

People over 65 years old were most affected, accounting for 88% of the excess deaths, according to the analysis. But heat can be deadly for anyone. Nearly 200 of the estimated deaths across the 12 cities were among those aged 20 to 65. 

 Climate change was responsible for the vast majority of heat deaths in some cities. In Madrid, it accounted for about 90% of estimated heat wave deaths, the analysis found. 

 

The study’s focus on 12 cities makes it just a snapshot of the true heat wave death toll across the continent, which researchers estimate could be up to tens of thousands of people.

“Heatwaves don’t leave a trail of destruction like wildfires or storms,” said Ben Clarke, a study author and a researcher at Imperial College London. “Their impacts are mostly invisible but quietly devastating — a change of just 2 or 3 degrees Celsius can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people.

 

The world must stop burning fossil fuels to stop heat waves becoming hotter and deadlier and cities need to urgently adapt, said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. “Shifting to renewable energy, building cities that can withstand extreme heat, and protecting the poorest and most vulnerable is absolutely essential,” she said.

Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the University of Reading who was not involved in the analysis, said “robust techniques used in this study leave no doubt that climate change is already a deadly force in Europe.”

Richard Allan, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading who was also not involved in the report, said the study added to huge amounts of evidence that climate change is making heat waves more intense, “meaning that moderate heat becomes dangerous and record heat becomes unprecedented.”

It’s not just heat that’s being supercharged in out hotter world, Allan added. “As one part of the globe bakes and burns, another region can suffer intense rainfall and catastrophic flooding.”

 

Italy limits outdoor work as heatwave breaks records across Europe. Portugal and Spain suffer historic temperature highs for June, as French schools close because of heat

 

A man takes a break in the heat as he works at a road construction site in Milan. Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP

 

Outdoor working has been banned during the hottest parts of the day in more than half of Italy’s regions as an extreme heatwave that has smashed June temperature records in Spain and Portugal continues to grip large swathes of Europe.

The savage temperatures are believed to have claimed at least three lives, including that of a small boy who is thought to have died from heatstroke while in a car in Catalonia’s Tarragona province on Tuesday afternoon.

In Palermo, Sicily, a 53-year-old woman died on Monday after fainting while walking along a street. She had reportedly suffered from a heart condition.

A 70-year-old man was reported to have drowned at a tourist resort close to Turin as intense heat gave way to storms and flash floods.

Admissions to hospital emergency units in parts of Italy have risen by 15-20% in recent days. The majority of patients are elderly people suffering from dehydration.

The heatwave, which has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from their homes in Turkey due to wildfires, has also forced the closure of schools in parts of France – as education unions warned the classrooms were dangerously hot for children and teachers.

The top of the Eiffel Tower was closed to tourists amid the high temperatures in Paris. Photograph: Tom Nicholson/Reuters

 Tourists, meanwhile, were confronted with closures of some of Europe’s popular attractions. The top of the Eiffel Tower was shut as temperatures in Paris were poised to hit 38C (100.4F). In Brussels, the Atomium monument, famed for its giant stainless steel balls, closed early as temperatures inched towards 37C.

Paris is on red alert for high temperatures, with the top of the Eiffel Tower shut, polluting traffic banned and speed restrictions in place as a searing heatwave grips Europe. Photograph: Thibaud Moritz/AFP/Getty Images

 

In Italy, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, two industrial hubs, announced they were stopping open-air work between 12.30pm and 4pm, joining 11 other regions – stretching from Liguria in the north-west to Calabria and Sicily in the south – that have imposed similar bans in recent days.

Local authorities were heeding advice from trade unions after the death of Brahim Ait El Hajjam, a 47-year-old construction worker, who collapsed and died while working on a building site close to Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna, on Monday.

 

Two workers fell ill on Tuesday on a construction site near Vicenza in Veneto. One is reportedly in a coma.

The CGIL Bologna and Fillea CGIL unions said in a statement: “While we wait to learn the actual cause of death, it is essential, during this terrible period, to promote a culture of safety.

“The climate emergency has clearly worsened the conditions for those who work outside every day and companies must give absolute priority to the protection of workers.”

The French national rail operator SNCF said train travel between France and Italy had been suspended for “at least several days” after violent storms on Monday, AFP reported.Cogne, a town in Italy’s Aosta Valley that suffered severe flooding in June last year, has been cut off by a landslide.

The Spanish state meteorological agency, Aemet, said in a social media update that “June 2025 smashed records” when it came to high temperature, with an average temperature of 23.6C, 0.8C above the previous hottest June in 2017.

The monthly average was also 3.5C higher than the average over the period from 1991 to 2020, it said.

A man drinks from a fountain during hot weather in Naples. Photograph: Ansa/Ciro Fusco/EPA

The agency’s comments come just days after Spain’s highest ever June temperature of 46C was recorded in the Huelva province of Andalucía.

In Portugal, temperatures hit 46.6C in Mora, a town in the Évora district, in recent days, making it the highest June temperature ever recorded in the country, according to the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere.

In France, the prime minister, François Bayrou, tried to calm anger at the heatwave crisis in French schools. More than 1,896 schools across the country were fully or partially closed on Tuesday.

In Paris, which was on maximum heatwave alert, parents were advised to keep their children at home on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some other towns, including Troyes and Melun, closed all their schools.

Bayrou said the education ministry would open talks with mayors on how to adapt school buildings, most of which are extremely poorly insulated.

As temperatures rose on Tuesday, some Paris teachers had nothing more than a water spray on their desk to repeatedly spritz children in classrooms in the hope of keeping cool.

Several Spanish regions, including Barcelona, were on alert for exceptionally high temperatures as the first heatwave of the summer hit the country. Photograph: Alejandro García/EPA

  

Bayrou, who is facing a vote of no confidence on Tuesday, which he is expected to survive, has cancelled his meetings to monitor the situation in real time.

The hot weather front known in Germany as Bettina is expected to have nearly the entire country in its grip by Wednesday, with temperatures shooting toward the 40C mark and only the coasts and Alpine peaks spared the scorching temperatures.

Industry groups warned that schools, elderly care homes and hospitals were ill-prepared for the heatwave – an urgent issue they said must be addressed as the frequency of life-threatening weather increases.

Other cities across Europe are also experiencing higher than usual temperatures, including Zaragoza (39C), Rome (37C), Madrid (37C), Athens (37C), Brussels (36C), Frankfurt (36C), Tirana (35C) and London (33C).

Turkey’s forestry minister, İbrahim Yumaklı, said firefighters had been called out to 263 wildfires across the country in recent days. Firefighters have also been tackling wildfires in parts of France and Italy, especially on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.

Spain records temperature of 46C as Europe heatwave continues

 

by 

Danai Nesta Kupemba

BBC News

 

 

A heatwave continues to grip large parts of Europe, with authorities in many countries issuing health warnings amid searing temperatures.

Southern Spain is the worst-affected region, with temperatures in the mid-40s Celsius recorded in Seville and neighbouring areas.

A new heat record for June of 46C was set on Saturday in the town of El Granado, according to Spain's national weather service, which also said this month is on track to be the hottest June on record.

Red heat warnings are in force in parts of Portugal, Italy and Croatia, with numerous amber warnings covering areas of Spain, France, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Switzerland. 

 

In Barcelona, a woman died after completing a shift as a road sweeper on Saturday, when temperatures were very high. Local authorities are investigating her death.

In Italy, emergency departments across the country have reported an uptick in heatstroke cases, mainly affecting "elderly people, cancer patients, or homeless people", Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine told the AFP news agency.

Hospitals such as the Ospedale dei Colli in Naples have set up dedicated heatstroke pathways to speed up access to vital treatments such as cold water immersion.

The city of Bologna further to the north has set up seven climate shelters with air conditioning and drinking water, while Rome has offered free access to city swimming pools for those over 70.

Tourists cool off under a cloud of mist in Valencia, Spain on Sunday

A pharmacist in Portugal's capital Lisbon told Reuters news agency that, despite telling people "not to go out" during the hottest hours of the day, "we have already had some cases of heat strokes and burns".

The severe heat has also affected countries across the western Balkans where temperatures have reached in excess of 40C.

Serbia registered its highest-ever temperature since it began recording them in the 19th century. In Slovenia, the hottest-ever June temperature was recorded on Saturday.

North Macedonia is also sweltering as temperatures reached 42C on Friday. 

 

More hot weather to come

Some areas will continue to get hotter until the middle of the week, with temperatures rising across France, Germany, Italy and the UK over the next few days.

Yellow and amber alerts are in place for parts of England this weekend, and temperatures in London may reach 35C on Monday.

The heat has been building under a big area of high pressure, with dry air descending and warming.

As that process has continued over a number of days, temperatures have climbed. The area of high pressure will move eastwards over the next few days – taking the high temperatures northwards and eastwards with it.

While it is hard to link individual extreme weather events to climate change, heatwaves are becoming more common and more intense due to climate change.

Scientists at World Weather Attribution, who analyse the influence of climate change on extreme weather events, say June heatwaves with three consecutive days above 28C are about 10 times more likely to occur now compared to pre-industrial times.

Additional reporting by BBC Weather, Guy DeLauney and Guy Hedgecoe

Deadly weekend heat in England ‘100 times more likely’ due to climate crisis. High temperatures likely to cause deaths and will worsen in future as global heating intensifies, scientists warn

Researchers say the 32C expected this weekend in the south-east would have been expected only once every 2,500 years without the climate crisis. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

 Damian Carrington

The dangerous 32C heat that will be endured by people in the south-east of England on Saturday will have been made 100 times more likely by the climate crisis, scientists have calculated.

Global heating, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is making every heatwave more likely and more intense. The 32C (89.6F) day forecast on Saturday would have been expected only once every 2,500 years without the climate crisis, the researchers said, and June heatwaves are now about 2-4C (3.6-7.2F) hotter than in the past.

 

The heat is expected to cause premature deaths, particularly among older and vulnerable people. More than 10,000 people died before their time in summer heatwaves between 2020 and 2024, according to the UK Health Security Agency, and the UK government has been heavily criticised for failing to properly prepare people for extreme weather.

Prolonged heat is especially dangerous as it gives no time for people’s bodies to cool off. Maximum temperatures in the south-east are expected to be above 28C for three consecutive days. The scientists said this heatwave was made 10 times more likely by the climate crisis.

Dr Ben Clarke at Imperial College London, who was part of the research team, said the culprit for the extreme heat was clear. “This weather just wouldn’t have been a heatwave without human-induced warming,” he said.

Climate breakdown drove the annual global temperature in 2024 to a new record and carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil and gas are still rising. If that continues for just two more years, passing the internationally agreed limit of 1.5C above preindustrial levels will be inevitable, intensifying the extreme weather already taking lives in the UK and across the globe.

Clarke said: “With every fraction of a degree of warming, the UK will experience hotter, more dangerous heatwaves. That means more heat deaths, more pressure on the NHS, more transport disruptions, and tougher work conditions. The best way to avoid a future of relentless heat is by shifting to renewable energy.”

Dr Friederike Otto, also at Imperial College London, said: “It is really important to highlight this early summer heatwave because the impacts of heat are still severely underestimated, and the UK is not prepared for this type of weather.” The Climate Change Committee, the government’s official advisers, said in April that the UK’s preparations for adapting to a changing climate were “inadequate, piecemeal and disjointed”.

Otto said: “Heatwaves are called the silent killer, because we don’t see people dropping dead on the street, but killers they are. In Europe in 2022, more than 60,000 people died in the summer from extreme heat.”

Maja Vahlberg at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre said: “Sadly most people die from heat indoors and alone, especially older people and those with underlying health conditions, such as lung or heart disease.”

Prof Mike Tipton, a physiologist at Portsmouth University, said: “The human body is not designed to tolerate prolonged exposure to this sort of extreme heat. It is undeniable that climate change is now costing British lives. Those politicians and commentators who pour scorn on climate action should reflect on this fact because, until we stop emitting greenhouse gases, these episodes are only likely to become more extreme.”

The extremely dry spring, combined with soaring temperatures, means the UK is also facing a high risk of wildfires, said Theodore Keeping, also at Imperial College London: “We’ve already seen the highest burnt area on record in the UK this year.” People should take extreme care with fires, barbecues and cigarettes, he said.

 

The rapid study of the role of global heating in the predicted weekend heatwave compared the likelihood of the high temperatures in today’s hotter climate with that in the cooler preindustrial period. The team, part of the World Weather Attribution group, was also able to reuse detailed climate modelling undertaken for a similar heatwave in 2022, speeding up their conclusions.

They said older people were at greatest risk from the high temperatures, but that others with existing vulnerabilities could also be affected, with the effectiveness of some medications being changed by the heat or affecting people’s ability to cool down.

Sweating is how the body cools so it is vital to drink plenty of water, the researchers said. Closing windows and curtains during the day and opening them in the cool of the night can help keep temperatures in homes down, they said. A recent study estimated that 80% of UK homes overheat in the summer.

Temperatures in the UK rose above 40C for the first time in 2022. The Met Office said on Wednesday that the UK had a 50/50 chance of temperatures soaring to 40C again in the next 12 years as the climate crisis worsens and that 45C could not be ruled out.

Extreme heat is more deadly than floods, earthquakes and hurricanes combined, according to a report by the insurance giant Swiss Re published on 12 June. “Up to half a million people globally succumb to the effects of extreme heat each year,” it said.

“Extreme heat used to be considered the ‘invisible peril’ because the impacts are not as obvious as of other natural perils,” said Jérôme Haegeli, chief economist at Swiss Re. “With a clear trend to longer, hotter heatwaves, it is important we shine a light on the true cost to human life, our economy, infrastructure, agriculture and healthcare.”

 

 

Argentina flooding: 16 killed as two girls swept away by rising waters. Authorities warn more fatalities expected as a year’s worth of rain falls on Bahía Blanca in eight hours

Firefighters and volunteers help people out of flooded areas in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, on 8 March 2025. Photograph: Pablo Presti/EPA

 

Harriet Barber in Buenos Aires

 

 

Rescue teams in Argentina are searching for two girls, aged one and five, who were swept away by severe floods that ripped through Buenos Aires province, killing at least 16 people.

A year’s worth of rain fell on the city of Bahía Blanca and the town of Cerri on Friday, rapidly inundating neighbourhoods and destroying homes, bridges and roads. The rainfall – 400mm (15.7in) recorded in just eight hours – was more than twice the city’s previous record of 175mm (6.8in) set in 1930.

The sisters, Delfina and Pilar Hecker, were travelling with their parents when their car became trapped in the rising waters. According to reports, a truck driver, named as Rubén Zalazar, attempted to rescue the children before they were swept away. The body of 43-year-0ld Zalazar was found in a lagoon on Sunday.

 

At least 16 people have been declared dead by officials, with authorities saying there are “likely to be more”. In the latest press conference, Carlos Bianco, a minister in the Buenos Aires province, said at least 100 people were missing.

Authorities also said more than 1,000 people were evacuated over the weekend, while estimates suggest hundreds have been made homeless. Videos posted online showed neonatal nurses wading through knee-deep flood waters to rescue newborn babies.

“We looked at the street and saw a river. We saw cars, trucks, containers, everything floating by. You could hear store windows breaking, and see furniture being dragged by the current,” said Soledad Bengochea, 52, a resident. “In one car, we saw two people trapped. It was overwhelming and terrible. There are many people who have suffered.”

The national security minister, Patricia Bullrich, said the area had been “destroyed”, while Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, declared three days of national mourning.

But the government has also come under fire after it emerged the national emergency directorate – which provides disaster relief – was shuttered three days before the storm, with 485 employees dismissed or placed on leave. The decision comes as Milei’s administration conducts widespread cuts to state spending

The mayor, Federico Susbielles, said that the floods had caused millions in infrastructure damage. Agostina Bitti, a 34-year-old doctor, said there are “still houses under water”. “The entire city needs to be rebuilt,” she said.

Argentina’s economy ministry has pledged AR$10bn (US$9.2m at the official exchange rate) to help repair the damage and rebuild the city.

The Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi offered his condolences to the victims’ families, saying he wished them strength. Pope Francis, who has been hospitalised in Rome since 14 February, also sent a message to the victims. The Vatican press office said that the pontiff, who is also from Argentina, is holding those affected in his “thoughts and prayers”.

Extreme rainfall has become more common and more intense due to human-caused climate breakdown across most of the world, because warmer air can hold more water vapour.

 

More Than 100,000 Flee as Fires Race Unchecked in L.A. Blaze Breaks Out in Hollywood Hills, as L.A. Wildfires Kill at Least 5.

 

 

Corina KnollSoumya Karlamangla and Mike Ives

Corina Knoll is reporting from Los Angeles.

 

A central part of the city was under threat as a new fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills. Firefighters were already struggling to fight the worst blaze in Los Angeles history, and more than 100,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders.

 

A new wildfire broke out on Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, an area of central Los Angeles indelibly associated with the American film industry, as emergency crews struggled against several other devastating blazes that were raging out of control and forcing desperate evacuations.

Even though wildfires are a fact of life in the hills of Southern California, the experience of watching one encroach upon a metropolitan area left residents deeply unsettled and afraid.

The 60-acre Sunset fire, burning among the hiking trails and secluded mansions of the Hollywood Hills, was zero percent contained as of 9 p.m. local time. A mandatory evacuation order was in effect for a wealthy area bordered by Mulholland Drive and Hollywood Boulevard, and an evacuation warning extended west along Sunset Boulevard toward West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

The street names evoke the grandeur and romance of the movies, and the iconic “Hollywood” sign stands nearby, on the other side of the 101 Freeway.

As of Wednesday evening, five people had died as a result of the wildfires, more than 25,000 acres had burned, more than 100,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and hundreds of thousands of customers had lost power. Glowing embers were floating through the sky like lightning bugs as thick black smoke turned day into night.

The largest of the blazes is the uncontained, 15,000-acre Palisades Fire. It has already consumed more than 1,000 structures, making it the most destructive in Los Angeles history, according to Cal Fire, the state fire agency.

About 16 million people in Southern California were under a red flag warning, the highest fire-related alert issued by the National Weather Service, by 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The agency said “extremely critical” fire weather conditions — the result of strong winds and dry conditions — were forecast to wane overnight. But conditions would remain “critically elevated” through at least Thursday and potentially into Friday, it said.

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  Here’s what else to know:

• Other fires: East of Los Angeles in Eaton Canyon, the day-old Eaton fire had reached Pasadena and consumed more than 10,000 acres as of Wednesday night. Another blaze that started on Tuesday, the Hurst fire in the San Fernando Valley, had grown to about 850 acres. Read more about the three major fires.

• Water availability: A lack of water has hampered crews’ efforts to beat back the major fires and several smaller ones The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power said that the department had filled reservoirs across the city before the windstorm. But with so many trucks connected to hydrants, and no aerial support possible, the tanks were depleted.

• Climate context: Santa Ana winds are notorious for spreading wildfire, and they often occur in colder months. By January, though, their impacts are usually less dramatic, as the landscape is typically less flammable after rains in the fall and early winter. But this year, the rains have not come, leaving most of Southern California extremely dry. Scientists have also found that fires across the region have become faster-moving in recent decades.

   Yan Zhuang, Jacey Fortin, and Ken Bensinger contributed reporting.