{"id":348119,"date":"2025-08-16T02:59:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T02:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/348119\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T02:59:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T02:59:25","slug":"a-heat-wave-is-gripping-europe-fuelling-wildfires-and-forcing-evacuations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/348119\/","title":{"rendered":"A heat wave is gripping Europe, fuelling wildfires and forcing evacuations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Smoke billows from a hill behind vineyards during France’s largest wildfire in decades near Camplong-d’ Aude, southern France, Thursday, Aug.7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)Manu Fernandez\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

A heat wave gripping parts of Europe sent temperatures over 40 degrees in southern France and the Western Balkans on Monday, fuelling wildfires, triggering top-level weather alerts and forcing evacuations in several countries across what scientists warn is the world\u2019s fastest-warming continent.<\/p>\n

Fires burned in France\u2019s Aude wine region, along Bulgaria\u2019s southern borders, near Montenegro\u2019s capital and coast, and in Turkey\u2019s northwest \u2013 and Hungary recorded record-breaking weekend temperatures.<\/p>\n

2025 is predicted to be the second- or third-warmest year on record, according to the U.K.-based Carbon Brief. The extreme heat in Europe fits that global pattern \u2013 but the continent is heating far faster than the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

Land temperatures have risen about 2.3 degrees above pre-industrial levels, nearly twice the global average, intensifying heat waves and driving record fire seasons.<\/p>\n

With major outbreaks in Spain, Portugal and deadly blazes in Greece since late June, the burned area is already far above the seasonal norm.<\/p>\n

U.K. has become warmer over the past decade with more extreme weather, report says<\/a><\/p>\n

On Monday, the French national weather authority, M\u00e9t\u00e9o-France, placed 12 departments on red alert, the country\u2019s highest heat warning, anticipating exceptional heat stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean plains. Forty-one other departments were under lower-level orange alerts, as was the neighbouring microstate of Andorra, between France and Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be fooled \u2013 this isn\u2019t \u2018normal, it\u2019s summer.\u2019 It\u2019s not normal, it\u2019s a nightmare,\u201d agricultural climatologist Serge Zaka told broadcaster BFMTV from Montauban in France\u2019s Tarn-et-Garonne department, where the blistering heat pressed relentlessly throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Social media images showed shuttered streets in Valence, residents shielding windows with foil to reflect the light, and tourists huddling under umbrellas along the Garonne in Toulouse. Across the south, caf\u00e9 terraces stood empty as people sought cooler corners indoors.<\/p>\n

In France\u2019s Aude department, a patchwork of vineyards and Mediterranean scrubland, hundreds of firefighters remained in the rolling wine country guarding the edges of a massive, deadly blaze that scorched 16,000 hectares, or 40,000 acres, last week. Officials say the fire is under control but warn it will not be fully extinguished for weeks, with hot spots still smouldering and at risk of reigniting.<\/p>\n

The red alert in France has been issued only eight times since it was created in 2004 after a deadly summer the year before. It is reserved for extreme, prolonged heat with major health risks and the potential to disrupt daily life. The designation gives local officials powers to cancel outdoor events, close public venues and alter school or summer camp schedules.<\/p>\n

The heat wave, France\u2019s second of the summer, began Friday and is expected to last all week, carrying into the Aug. 15 holiday weekend. It is already pushing northward, with 38 degrees forecast in the Centre-Val de Loire region and up to 34 degrees in Paris.<\/p>\n

Across the English Channel, the U.K.\u2019s Met Office expects the country\u2019s fourth heat wave of the summer to peak around 33 degrees in London on Tuesday. The U.K. Health Security Agency issued a yellow health alert for older adults and those with medical conditions.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Water bottles in a street vendor’s bucket in Paris. The heatwave that started on August 8, 2025 has intensified, with temperatures at an ‘exceptional level’ in the southwest.MARTIN LELIEVRE\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Montenegro reported wildfires near the capital Podgorica and along the Adriatic coast, prompting urgent appeals for help from neighbouring countries. Families were evacuated from an area north of the capital as army units worked to protect the ruins of the ancient city of Duklja.<\/p>\n

Senior emergency official Nikola Bojanovic described the situation as \u201ccatastrophic,\u201d with strong winds driving the flames. Authorities urged residents to conserve drinking water to avoid restrictions.<\/p>\n

Fires also burned above Canj, a popular coastal resort.<\/p>\n

Bosnia\u2019s southern city of Mostar reached 43 degrees, while Croatia\u2019s Dubrovnik hit 34 degrees in the morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too hot, this is not normal,\u201d said Fatima Safro, a resident of Mostar. \u201cIt\u2019s very hot even during the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Serbia, farmers on Suva Planina mountain renewed appeals for emergency water supplies for livestock after streams and ponds dried up.<\/p>\n

Eight people die in European heatwave amid record June temperatures<\/a><\/p>\n

In Bulgaria, temperatures were expected to exceed 40 degrees Monday at the day\u2019s peak, with maximum fire danger alerts in place.<\/p>\n

Nearly 200 fires have been reported; most have been brought under control, localized and extinguished, but the situation remains \u201cvery challenging,\u201d said Alexander Dzhartov, head of the national fire safety unit. Three major blazes continue along the borders with Greece and Turkey, including one near Strumyani that reignited after three weeks.<\/p>\n

More than 100 firefighters and emergency personnel are battling flames in rugged terrain unreachable by vehicles, supported by army helicopters and two Swedish aircraft.<\/p>\n

In Turkey, a wildfire fuelled by high temperatures and strong winds forced authorities to evacuate holiday homes and a university campus and to suspend maritime traffic in the country\u2019s northwest.<\/p>\n

The fire broke out in an agricultural field in the province of Canakkale and spread into surrounding forestland, just two days after firefighting teams had contained a similar blaze in the area. Canakkale Gov. Omer Toraman said the Dardanelles Strait wave the narrow waterway linking the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara \u2013 was closed to allow water-dropping planes and helicopters to operate safely.<\/p>\n

Sunday brought a new national high of 39.9 degrees on Sunday in the southeast, breaking a record set in 1948. Budapest also recorded a city record at 38.7 degrees.<\/p>\n

Authorities imposed a nationwide fire ban amid extreme heat and drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Smoke billows from a hill behind vineyards during France’s largest wildfire in decades…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[6934,6925,6935,1500,6918,6936,943,6917,6930,6931,6927,6919,6916,1700,2266,728,2000,299,6929,6923,36,6946,6920,6921,1234,6926,388,3611,6607,603,6941,6942,6944,6939,6943,6937,6940,6922,6932,6933,285,3027,6938,6924,53,183,6928,727,263,6945],"class_list":{"0":"post-348119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-eu","25":"tag-europe","26":"tag-federal-government","27":"tag-foreign-news","28":"tag-france","29":"tag-globe-and-mail","30":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","31":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","32":"tag-government","33":"tag-life-news","34":"tag-lifestyle","35":"tag-local-news","36":"tag-manitoba","37":"tag-national-news","38":"tag-new-brunswick","39":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","40":"tag-northwest-territories","41":"tag-nova-scotia","42":"tag-nunavut","43":"tag-ontario","44":"tag-pei","45":"tag-photos","46":"tag-political-news","47":"tag-political-opinion","48":"tag-politics","49":"tag-politics-news","50":"tag-quebec","51":"tag-sports-news","52":"tag-technology","53":"tag-travel","54":"tag-trudeau","55":"tag-us-news","56":"tag-world-news","57":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}