France - Firefighters from across Europe came to France's rescue on Friday to battle a massive wildfire, while fire also raged in Portugal and parts of England faced a severe drought, as successive heatwaves renewed the focus on climate change risks.
Much of Europe has faced weeks of baking temperatures that have also depleted water levels of the Rhine River in Germany and seen the source of Britain's River Thames dry up further downstream than in previous years.
High temperatures and a worsening drought brought a high risk of new fires breaking out in Gironde, in southwestern France, local officials said, even after an overnight reprieve held in check the wildfire that has been burning for days, scorched thousands of hectares and displaced 10,000 people.
Firefighters from Germany, Romania, Greece and beyond were on the ground to help France battle the fire in the region - home to Bordeaux wine - as well as on other fronts, including in Brittany in the northwest.
But while an expected end of France's third heatwave on Sunday could bring some relief, the fire has already left much destruction in its wake, including over 7,400 hectares (18,286 acres) of forest burnt to the ground - equivalent to the size of a major French city such as Nice.
Portugal Fires, UK Drought
In central Portugal, a huge wildfire raged into its seventh day, with 1,600 firefighters backed by 13 waterbombing aircraft, including one sent from Spain, combating the blaze that has destroyed about 15% of the Serra da Estrela national park.
After starting in the Covilha area on Saturday, the fire has spread to several neighbouring councils, burning around 15,000 hectares overall.
Further north, in Britain, the heatwave was also hitting hard, with the government formally declaring parts of southern, central and eastern England in drought after a prolonged period of hot and dry weather.
England suffered its driest July since 1935, with only 35% of the average rainfall for the month, and parts of England and Wales were now in the middle of a four-day "extreme heat" alert.
Europe’s dry period is expected to continue in what experts say could be the worst drought in 500 years.
Climate change is exacerbating conditions as hotter temperatures speed up evaporation, thirsty plants take in more moisture and reduced snowfall in the winter limits supplies of fresh water available for irrigation in the summer. Europe isn’t alone in the crisis, with drought conditions also reported in East Africa, the western United States and northern Mexico.
The European Commission’s Joint Research Center warned this week that drought conditions will get worse and potentially affect 47% of the continent.
On the Danube, authorities in Serbia have started dredging to keep vessels moving.
In neighboring Hungary, wide parts of Lake Velence near Budapest have turned into patches of dried mud, beaching small boats. Aeration and water circulation equipment was installed to protect wildlife, but water quality has deteriorated. A ban on swimming was imposed at one beach on weekends.
EU corn production is expected to be 12.5 million tons below last year and sunflower production is projected to be 1.6 million tons lower, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.
-AP/Reuters