Wildfires rage across southern Europe as temperatures top 40C

A scorching heatwave is fuelling dozens of wildfires across parts of southern Europe, forcing thousands of people from their homes and pushing temperatures above 40C (104F).

Red heat alerts have been issued in parts of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans, warning of significant risks to health.

Spain's weather service Aemet said temperatures could reach 44C (111.2F) in Seville and Cordoba, while authorities in southern Portugal also warned of possible 44C highs.

In Italy, a child died of heatstroke on Monday, and in Tres Cantos, north of Spain's capital Madrid, a man who suffered serious burns died in hospital, officials said.

Hundreds of Tres Cantos residents were forced to leave their homes amid Spain's wildfires and the regional environment minister described the fire as having "explosive characteristics because of a dry storm that has brought winds of more than 70km/h (43.5mph)".

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X on Tuesday and said that rescue services "are working tirelessly to extinguish the fires". "We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious," he added.

In Spain's north-western region of Castile and Leon, almost 4,000 people were evacuated and more than 30 blazes were reported - with one threatening Las Medulas, a Unesco World Heritage site renowned for its ancient gold mines.

Another 2,000 people were evacuated from hotels and homes near the tourist hotspot of Tarifa in the southern region of Andalusia.

Almost 1,000 soldiers were deployed to battle wildfires around the country, Spain's national military emergency unit said on Tuesday morning.

In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires, with the most serious near Trancoso contained in the centre of the country on Tuesday.

More than 1,300 firefighters and 14 aircraft were deployed, with Morocco sending two planes after Portuguese water bombers broke down, Reuters reported. Authorities warned southern regions could hit 44C, with the temperature not expected to dip below 25C.

One child died of heatstroke in Italy on Monday, where temperatures of 40C are expected to hit later this week and red heat alerts were in place for 16 cities including Rome, Milan and Florence.

The four-year-old Romanian boy, who was found unconscious in a car in Sardinia was airlifted to a hospital in Rome but died due to irreversible brain damage, reportedly caused by heatstroke, medical authorities told AFP.

Almost three-quarters of France was placed under heat alerts on Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to top 36C in the Paris region and 40C in the Rhône Valley.

French Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said hospitals were braced for fallout from the country's second heatwave in just a few weeks. On Monday, 80 weather stations broke August records, 58 reaching all-time highs.

In Greece, gale-force winds fanned fires on tourist islands Zakynthos and Cephalonia, prompting village and hotel evacuations. Another blaze near the western Greek town Vonitsa threatened homes, while four areas of the mainland also faced evacuations.

Turkey's northwestern Canakkale province saw a major fire force hundreds from their homes. Canakkale Governor Omer Toraman said in a post on X that seven planes and six helicopters were tackling the blaze on Tuesday.

He added the Dardanelles Strait, a waterway linking the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, was closed to allow water-dropping planes and helicopters to operate safely.

Wildfires in Albania forced people to evacuate their homes on Monday, while in Croatia a large fire raged in Split and was contained on Tuesday. A major wildfire swept through Piperi village near Montenegro's capital Podgorica, devastating houses in the area.

Parts of the UK are sweltering in its fourth heatwave of the year, with amber and yellow heat health alerts in place for all of England and potential highs of 34C forecast.

Scientists warn global warming is making Mediterranean summers hotter and drier, fuelling longer and more intense fire seasons.