By Rebecca Falconer
Wildfires are spreading across Europe and forcing more people to flee as a deadly heat wave envelopes much of the continent that officials warn is being driven is being aggravated by climate change.
The big picture: Firefighters are tackling blazes in searing heat in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia and Slovenia, as well as Morocco’s northern mountains — where a forest fire killed at least one person and caused over 1,000 families to evacuate.
- More than 16,000 people have fled blazes in southwestern France, where several regions were on high alert for potentially record temperatures on Monday.
- About 3,200 residents were evacuated from Spain’s Mijas hills, though some have since returned, per the BBC, which notes over 1,000 heat-related deaths have been recorded in Spain and fire-ravaged Portugal in recent days.
What to watch: Though officials say the fires in Portugal have been contained, they warn the risk remains high after temperatures of up to 108°F were forecast for this week, per the Guardian.
Meanwhile, British farmers have expressed concern about the threat of crop fires after the U.K. Met Office issued its first-ever Red warning for extreme heat— predicting there’s an 80% chance the national temperature record of 101.66°F (38.7°C) will be beaten by Wednesday.
