Much of Europe is bracing for yet another scorching heatwave following periods of record drought that have driven rivers to historic lows, ignited historic forest fires and contributed to thousands of deaths.

Swathes of Britain and France on Monday (August 10, 2026) were already under extreme heat warnings with forecasts of temperatures around the mid-30s C, while parched conditions saw new fires erupt in Greece and Spain.

Unusually high temperatures were also forecast in the coming days across a number of countries not accustomed to the heat, such as Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.

The heatwave comes after mainland France and Switzerland saw their widest-ranging droughts for July on record, according to an AFP of data released by Europe’s Copernicus climate observatory on Monday (August 10).

Europe’s weather warning system, MeteoAlarm, on Monday (August 10) also said scorching temperatures are already being felt across much of Italy and coastal areas of Croatia.

Here’s what to know as temperatures soar again across the continent, the fastest-warming on the planet due to human-caused climate change.

‘Intense heat’

The United Kingdom’s Met Office warned at the weekend that the summer’s fifth hot spell was about to take hold in a country whose infrastructure was built for a more temperate, cooler climate.

Nearly three-quarters of England and the whole of Wales is already officially in drought, with more than 27 million people under water-use restrictions, and with the environment department warning on Monday that “all regions of the country are experiencing pressure on their water resources”.

Next to no rain was forecast for the affected areas this week.

In France, the national weather agency Meteo-France warned on Monday (August 10) that the southeast would see temperatures as high as 35C, spreading further across the country as the week progresses.

The agency also warned that due to climate change, “future summers will generally be hotter than those experienced to date”.

The environment ministry said on Monday (August 10) that “nearly 70% of French territory is subject to restrictions on water use”, with the liquid reserved for priority uses such as healthcare, sanitation and drinking water in the areas most at risk.

Both France and the U.K. have seen thousands of excess deaths during previous heatwaves this year.

Fires and drought

Greece reported its second fire this season near the capital Athens on Monday (August 10), despatching hundreds of crew and equipment.

Already, more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of pine forests were blackened by a blaze that broke out 10 days ago northwest of the capital.

Firefighters were also struggling to contain a rapidly expanding blaze in southwestern Spain that had forced the evacuation of some 800 people and counting.

The weather was offering “no respite”, local officials said.

France and Spain have already seen historic wildfires so far this summer, with record levels of drought causing tinder-dry conditions.

Some 95% of mainland France and 99% of Switzerland saw drought conditions in July, both record figures since the European Drought Observatory began collecting such data in 2012, according to an AFP analysis on Monday (August 10).

Heat and drought are also driving rivers across Europe to record lows. The Rhine in Germany could drop so much it becomes unnavigable, industry groups warned on Monday (August 10).

And Polish officials announced that the Vistula, the country’s longest river, had matched its record low in Warsaw on Monday — a record set only on Friday.

Low levels along the Danube River have already seen Hungary and Romania forced to consider shuttering their nuclear plants, which rely on the water for cooling, in late July — though both managed to avoid doing so for now.

By the numbers –

Nearly 120 million Europeans live in regions where July 2026 was the hottest ever recorded, according to an AFP analysis of national weather agencies and Copernicus climate data.

The records were concentrated in southern Britain, western France, and northern and eastern Spain.

At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during one heatwave in June, an AFP analysis of national statistics found last month, a toll that could rise as more data is released.

Solar eclipse

A solar eclipse that will be visible across parts of the European continent on Wednesday (August 12) is expected to attract skygazers despite the unwelcoming weather.

The European Space Agency’s observatory in Teruel, Spain, will host a day of activities up to the main event with the eclipse beginning at 7:33 p.m. and reaching totality at 8:23 p.m..

The area saw temperatures breach 30C on Monday and the eclipse will cross over areas that were hit by the devastating Spanish fires last month.

Published – August 10, 2026 10:55 pm IST

Two firefighting helicopters collided on Sunday (August 2, 2026) while battling a wind-driven wildfire in the Porto Germeno area, west of Athens. Footage showed one of the aircraft crashing to the ground.

Each helicopter was carrying a two-person crew, the Greek fire department said. A search-and-rescue operation was underway. Authorities did not immediately provide information on the crews’ condition.

The collision underscored the continuing danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s wildfire emergency.

The continent’s crisis split into three stark fronts: strong winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris, and Spain’s major fires stopped advancing.

The most immediate danger was in Greece. Flames spread through western Attica, the region around Athens, threatening communities and an industrial district outside Megara as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea.

The danger carried grim resonance in a region where the 2018 Mati wildfire killed 104 people, Europe’s deadliest blaze this century.

Farther west, containment brought no end to the emergency. France’s largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

Hot spots still burned within a 420-square-kilometer scar, thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second, still-uncontained blaze in Provence.

Together, fires in France and Spain have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer and stretched emergency services across simultaneous disasters.

Record fire damage underscores Europe’s growing wildfire threat

The mass evacuations in France and Spain are the latest measure of a wildfire threat growing across Europe.

The continent entered 2026 after its worst fire year on record, with more than 10,000 square kilometres burned in 2025. Over the past four decades, wildfires have been linked to nearly 800 deaths across much of Europe, according to the European Environment Agency.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. It has warmed more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Human-caused climate change made the extreme fire-weather conditions behind this year’s French blazes at least twice as likely, scientists at World Weather Attribution found in a rapid analysis conducted while the fires were still burning.

Gale-force winds cripple aerial assault near Athens

Nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft were deployed, but gale-force winds drove flames through dry forest and crippled the response, preventing some aircraft from reaching the sea to collect water.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli as smoke rose over the mountains. Crews were particularly concerned about Porto Germeno, a seaside community on the Gulf of Corinth. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the operation.

The fire began Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens. Firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea Friday and another 12 Saturday — often the last escape route when fire and smoke cut the few roads from coastal communities.

Wildfire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros estimated the blaze had affected 40 to 50 square kilometres, though authorities had issued no official figure.

Elsewhere in Greece, flames threatened homes on Kefalonia, forcing evacuations from inland communities as aircraft made water drops over the Ionian island. Firefighters battled another blaze near Nea Tenedos in Halkidiki.

Earlier this week, two firefighters died fighting a fire on Crete, while a third was killed in the Peloponnese.

“A pristine forest, a paradise, was surrendered to the hands of the fire,” local farmer Minas Tzortzanis said on Saturday (August 1, 2026). “There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction.”

France guards vast megafire scar against renewed flames

In southwestern France, the Gironde megafire remained held within its perimeter on Sunday (August 2, 2026) but continued to burn after scorching 420 square kilometres of forest in 10 days.

“The fire is now fixed, which does not mean that the fire is extinguished,” the Gironde prefecture said, using the French firefighting term for a blaze whose advance has been stopped.

The region remained under France’s highest red forest-fire alert. Dry conditions, soaring temperatures around Bordeaux and afternoon winds threatened to rekindle the flames.

In Le Porge, local officials said about 150 homes were destroyed. Mechanic Matthieu Plessis returned Saturday to the ruins of a house that had been in his family for seven generations.

“There are places I don’t even recognise anymore,” he said. “You don’t even know what was here anymore, or who lived where.”

Firefighters from Ukraine, Lithuania and French Polynesia were expected on Sunday (August 2, 2026) and Monday (August 3, 2026) to reinforce the operation.

Provence fire stops advancing but remains uncontained

In southeastern France, nearly 1,500 firefighters battled a separate blaze in the Var department that tore through about 18 square kilometres in little more than a day.

The Gros Bessillon fire was stabilised on Sunday after its perimeter held overnight, but it remained uncontained. Some 2,500 people were evacuated as flames threatened nearby communities.

It was the fourth major fire to strike central Var since July 19. A smaller blaze near Brignoles earlier in the week forced actor George Clooney and his family, along with about 700 other residents, to evacuate before it was brought under control.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said France’s fires were generally under control but warned that conditions remained volatile. He appointed a national coordinator to oversee reconstruction in fire-ravaged areas.

More than 1,170 square kilometres have burned across France this year.

Spain’s deadly fire siege eases as crews guard perimeters

Spain’s major fires — part of a season that has killed at least 13 people, produced the country’s largest recorded wildfire and prompted a national emergency — were no longer advancing Sunday.

In Zamora province near the Portuguese border, more than 20 ground and aerial units guarded the perimeter of the Fermoselle fire against flare-ups in the rugged Arribes del Duero landscape. Most evacuees had returned home, according to local media.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for a national pact to confront wildfires, warning that climate change is making them increasingly destructive.

Published – August 02, 2026 10:42 pm IST

Firefighters kept a vast wildfire in southwest France in check overnight into Tuesday (July 28, 2026), bringing flare-ups near Atlantic coast dunes under control in a crucial reprieve before returning heat and falling humidity threaten to test their hold on the blaze.

The fire remained stabilised at 6 a.m. after a calm night and the burned area was unchanged at 420 sq. kilometres, the Gironde prefecture said. The emergency now stretches across southwestern Europe.

Fires in France have forced roughly 3,30,000 people to evacuate, while Spain entered its fourth heat wave of the summer on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) with several blazes still out of control, including the largest ever recorded in the country.

In France, several flare-ups were detected overnight north of Le Porge and in dunes north of Cap Ferret but were brought under control by firefighters, authorities said. “We are at a point of fragility,” Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for France’s national firefighters federation, told BFMTV on Tuesday (July 28, 2026). “We will continue attacking this fire despite the forecast rise in temperatures.” The areas lie along the Atlantic coast west of Bordeaux, where crews have battled the blaze since it erupted near Saumos last week.

The overnight calm did not mean the danger had passed. The fire remained stabilised rather than fixed, meaning it could still spread again. The blaze, raging since last week, has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding firestorm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to evacuate homes and vacation accommodation. Even after 24 hours without further advance, officials warned that smouldering vegetation, rising temperatures and falling humidity could produce fresh outbreaks along the vast perimeter.

Firefighters and military engineers resumed work early Tuesday (July 28, 2026) on tactical firebreaks designed to prevent the flames from spreading. Authorities said 103 Km of firebreaks had been completed. Ninety-three firefighters have been injured while battling the blaze, the prefecture said. The A63 highway remained partly closed, while rail traffic south of Bordeaux was suspended except on the route toward Toulouse.

Thousands return as progress is made on second fire

The overnight holding action in Gironde contrasted with a clearer sign of progress in neighbouring Landes, where thousands of evacuees were allowed home after a separate wildfire was fixed. The fire had displaced more than 30,000 residents and vacationers.

“The fire is fixed, which is good news in the Landes,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday (July 28, 2026) evening. Regional authorities said that meant its advance had been stopped and no new fires were breaking out.

About 15,000 people were authorised to return home on Monday (July 27, 2026) night in Sanguinet, Parentis-en-Born and some parts of Biscarrosse. Residents of Biscarrosse’s aviation village and a large campground were among those allowed back, although several other neighbourhoods remained inaccessible.

The return marked a significant step for communities that emptied as flames swept through forests and tourist areas during the height of the summer vacation season. Authorities warned that the Landes fire was not extinguished. Residual hot spots, wind and drought could cause flare-ups, and surveillance and damping-down operations were expected to continue for days or possibly weeks.

Heat returns

The gains in both fire zones faced an immediate test on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) as temperatures began climbing again.

France’s national weather service placed Gironde under a yellow heat warning from midday, forecasting inland temperatures of 33°C to 35°C. Southeast winds were expected across the department, with westerly sea breezes along the coast. More than 116,000 hectares have burned across France so far this year, according to the Interior Ministry.

Western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, with extreme heat and widespread dryness helping fires spread and intensify in France and Spain, the European Union’s Copernicus climate service said.

Spain braces for worsening states

Hundreds of firefighters backed by military emergency brigades and water-dropping aircraft continued battling several major wildfires in Spain, including the largest ever recorded in the fire-prone country.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) that nonstop work through the night left him “reasonably positive,” but warned that conditions could deteriorate as temperatures rose again. Spain’s national weather service said the country was entering its fourth heat wave of the summer on Tuesday (July 28, 2026), with temperatures expected to exceed 40°C in some areas.

Authorities have evacuated some 79,000 people and ordered another 30,000 to remain in their homes during an unprecedented crisis that prompted the government to declare a national emergency for wildfires for the first time. The greatest concern remained two large fires that had at times come close to merging into a single mega-blaze in wooded hills about an hour’s drive west of Madrid. Another fire in the eastern province of Castellon also forced mass evacuations.

A fire burning through hilly, rural terrain in Avila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching more than 500 sq. kilometres, the government said. That is five times the size of Barcelona. “Look at how the valley is burned. Look at the houses, the people,” said David Gonzalez, a 48-year-old gardener who used his van to deliver supplies to firefighters in Avila. “We are feeling a lot of anger and helplessness. It’s something inhuman,” he said.

Fires have burned 1,530 sq. kilometres this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, said Sara Aagesen, the Ecology Minister. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for a national pact to fight wildfires made worse by climate change.

Published – July 28, 2026 03:32 pm IST

A separate scientific study estimated 2,700 people ⁠died from heat-related causes in England and Wales alone, during the May and June heatwaves | Image used for representational purpose only
| Photo Credit: Reuters

One of Spain’s deadliest wildfires on record killed 12 people overnight into Friday (July 10, 2026), authorities said, as soaring temperatures grip much of the country.

Several victims of the fire in the southern province of Almeria, a popular holiday destination, were found inside burnt-out vehicles and were thought to have died while trying to flee the flames.

Eight people have been injured and a further 23 are unaccounted for, Andalusia’s regional leader Juan Manuel Moreno said. Some 150 firefighters and 220 soldiers from Spain’s military emergency unit were battling the blaze, which has consumed more than 3,200 hectares of forest and farmland.

Regional emergency authorities said four British nationals and other unspecified foreign nationals appeared to be among the dead.

Victims attempted to flee on foot and by car

The fire broke out in a hamlet in a semi-arid area near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains. Authorities have not confirmed the cause, but said people who called to report the fire said that a fallen power line had sparked a blaze that spread rapidly into a nearby forest.

Most of the victims died while attempting to flee and ignored shelter-in-place instructions, said Antonio Sanz, president of Andalusia’s emergency services. One group did so via a dry riverbed, which “turned into a death trap,” he said.

Seven people died while on foot after abandoning their cars, Mr. Sanz said, likely looking for a way out.

“The consequences have been terrible. Everything seems to indicate that, in the case of the deceased … we are dealing for the most part, if not entirely, with foreign nationals,” Mr. Sanz said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences. “Immense sadness and desolation in the face of the terrible consequences of the fire affecting the province of Almeria,” he wrote on X.

Europe battles intense heat again

Spain has battled frequent and severe heat waves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. Wind, high temperatures and little rainfall help small wildfires grow into unchecked blazes.

In June, Spain experienced several days of record-setting heat, with over 1,000 excess deaths attributed to heat.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Parts of Western Europe are facing their third heat wave in six weeks. Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing several intense heat waves across Europe.

France is experiencing the peak of its third heatwave of the summer, with temperatures reaching 40° Celsius across western and central areas and around 37° Celsius in Paris.

French authorities have also warned of a very high wildfire risk, as large fires in the south have already scorched thousands of hectares this week, disrupted the Tour de France cycling race and stretching firefighting resources.

The largest wildfire, which broke out in the eastern Pyrenees, near the Spanish border, has decreased in intensity, authorities said Friday.

It burned about 5,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people from nearly villages, who have since been allowed to return home.

Last month was France’s hottest June on record, with deaths surging by nearly a third during the hottest week.

Scientists warn that climate change caused in part by the burning of fuels like gasoline, oil and coal is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making certain regions more vulnerable to wildfires.

Spain and Portugal have faced deadly fires before

Spain is no stranger to wildfires, with last year’s fire season burning more than 3,93,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, an area twice as large as London. Four people died.

In 2017, a wildfire in neighbouring Portugal left 66 people dead in Pedrogao Grande, located 200 kilometres northeast of Lisbon.

In that blaze, 47 people died on one road while similarly attempting to flee in their cars.

Published – July 10, 2026 06:58 pm IST

A view of firefighting trucks during a wildfire in Ille-sur-Tet near Perpignan, Pyrenees-Orientales department, France, on July 6, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Londoner Zainab Hussain once saw air conditioning as a luxury in Britain. Now, the 35-year-old “can’t see how we’ll survive without it”.

She and her husband are among a small but growing proportion of British households embracing AC to deal with increasingly hot summers.

But the trend has attracted criticism, particularly from sustainability experts who argue it should not be the “default answer”.

“It’s seen as a quick fix and it’s not actually, because it can cause a lot of damage,” Rajat Gupta, professor of sustainable architecture and climate change at Oxford Brookes University, told AFP.

He noted AC increases electricity demand, energy bills and carbon emissions, while worsening the so-called urban heat island effect by releasing hot air onto city streets.

However, after sweltering at night through the second heatwave of 2026 last month, the Hussain family were undeterred, opting to add AC upstairs at their semi-detached home in the south London suburb Selsdon.

“We realised that our summers were just getting more and more unbearable so it was something that we definitely needed to have for the downstairs area,” Mr. Hussain explained.

“But after last week’s heatwave, we realised that actually upstairs was really unbearable as well,” she added, as workers fitted the new appliance.

Wanted ‘now’

Only around 5% of British homes have AC while half overheat during the summer months, according to a 2025 report by the non-partisan Centre for British Progress think tank.

Urging more AC adoption, it cited the growing risks from heat-related deaths — which number in the low thousands each summer —and lost productivity.

Such calls have increased as U.K. temperature records tumble.

For the second successive year, England last month experienced its warmest June since records began in 1884.

Meanwhile all of Britain’s five warmest summers have occurred in the 21st century, with last year the hottest.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is making such weather more frequent and intense.

For AC installer Joe Springett, who has worked in the industry nearly two decades, the rising mercury has triggered a gradual shift in his business away from offices and retailers.

“I’m getting busier and busier domestically, where people want it in their houses,” the 35-year-old told AFP while fitting Mr. Hussain’s new unit.

“It happens every year. As soon as the [hot] weather comes, bang! The phone’s ringing ,everyone wants it now.”

After the latest heatwave, Mr. Springett was booked up for several weeks and has been struggling to find stock.

Those without the outside space or budget — appliances can cost several thousand pounds, including installation —are instead ordering more basic, portable units.

Retailers’ websites are now showing such items as sold-out.

Home improvement store B&Q told AFP it has seen twice as many searches for portable AC units this year compared to 2025.

‘Only when necessary’

Mr. Gupta is dismayed at the “panic buying”, arguing “the most sustainable approach is to look at improving buildings to stay cool naturally”.

He advocates retrofitting buildings with exterior and interior shading, better ventilation and other “green-ing” measures, alongside improved heat-resilience design for new-builds.

AC should be reserved for the most vulnerable, such as those in care home and hospital settings.

“In homes, it hasn’t become widespread yet and it’s better to keep it that way,” Mr. Gupta said. “Use it only when necessary and where necessary.”

In the U.K., AC running costs can vary widely depending on numerous factors, including the type and efficiency of the system and how often it is used.

But some estimates suggest more powerful units can add hundreds of pounds to monthly bills.

John Calautit, a sustainability lecturer at University College London (UCL), is another AC sceptic.

He noted most British buildings are designed to retain warmth and “cannot cope” with heatwave conditions.

“We need to look at more simple solutions such as adding shading, reflective materials and then moving on to natural ventilation,” he told AFP.

“If those solutions do not work, then we can start looking at mechanical cooling systems.”

Back in south London, Mr. Springett argues Britons have “got to move with the times, the climate” and adopt AC.

For Mr. Hussain’s family, whose home has south-facing windows exposed to direct sunlight throughout the day, it seemed the only option.

“We spend so much more time at home now, especially with remote working, it’s not just about it being comfortable. We need to be able to function in the house.”

Published – July 06, 2026 02:52 pm IST

Public Health France said in a new report there had been “an increase of 29.1%, corresponding to 2,025 additional deaths compared with the previous week” while noting that the figure was probably “an underestimate”.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The United Nations weather agency forecast a moderate or possibly strong El Nino that could drive up global temperatures and increase the risk of extreme weather in 2026. Experts said the El Nino, a natural warming cycle, should further heat a globe already warming from fossil fuel pollution and will likely turbocharge extreme weather across the planet. Meteorologists forecast it will rival — or exceed — a record El Nino that began in 1997 and helped trigger billions of dollars in damage from heat waves, floods, droughts, tornadoes and wildfires.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that over 1,300 excess deaths had been recorded in Europe since June 21 in connection with the record-breaking heatwave roasting much of the continent. 

India Meteorological Department (IMD), said on Tuesday (June 30, 2026) that rainfall in July — the most important of the monsoon months — will be “below normal” or less than 94% of what is usual for the month. India’s current monsoon deficit is 40%.

Published – July 02, 2026 06:29 pm IST

General view of people in the stands amidst the heatwave during the round of 16 match between Madison Keys of the U.S. and Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
| Photo Credit: Reuters