Guadalajara, Spain. Firefighters battled major wildfires in Spain and France on Wednesday, while the risk of further blazes remained very high across much of Spain despite signs that a large fire in Guadalajara province was receding. In the Western Balkans, hailstorms injured several people in North Macedonia and eastern Kosovo after the region’s recent heatwaves.
Spain fire stabilises
Spain’s worst wildfire so far this year has burned an estimated 32,000 hectares in the Guadalajara region. The blaze began to stabilise on Tuesday after prompting evacuations in 34 municipalities and confinement orders in 14 others.
Castilla-La Mancha’s INFOCAM fire service said residents of five villages had been authorised to return, although other restrictions remained in place. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to visit the affected area later on Wednesday.
Spain’s weather agency, AEMET, said wildfire danger remained “very high or extreme” across most of mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands and was expected to increase in the coming days. It urged people to exercise extreme caution as the heatwave continued alongside dry thunderstorms and Saharan dust.
France urges caution
In France, two firefighters died on Tuesday when their truck was engulfed by flames in the southwestern Gironde region. Authorities urged people to avoid using barbecues in areas affected by heatwaves, noting that nine out of 10 wildfires begin through human activity, whether accidental or deliberate.
Europe faces extreme weather
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, and scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the intensity of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires while creating conditions for sudden destructive storms.
The continent has experienced three nearly consecutive heatwaves so far this year, with intense heat blamed for thousands of excess deaths between May and June.
The Reuters Climate Monitor, which provides real-time data, forecast an average high temperature of 26.6C across Western Europe, three degrees above the normal high for July 22 during the 1961-1990 period.
