Record heat drives wildfires across France, England and southern Europe

Record heat drives wildfires across Europe

Europe is enduring its fifth heatwave of the year, with countries from Britain to Greece battling wildfires and health services stretched by heat-related emergencies. The UK recorded its hottest day of 2026 on Thursday, 13 August, with temperatures reaching 38.1C in west London, the fifth hottest day on record in the country. France approached 41C in several areas from Aquitaine in the southwest to the Rhone River valley in the east, according to the national weather service. Red-level heat warnings were in effect on Friday across portions of Italy and Switzerland, while the Met Office said the UK was on track to record its warmest summer on record for average temperature, breaking a record set in 2025.

In France, experiencing its driest year ever, a fire raced through woodlands overnight in the Landes region on the southwest coast, forcing more than 500 people to evacuate the town of Luglon. Hundreds of firefighters deployed to the area, the regional administration said. The blaze is one of several fires scorching French forests this week, including in normally cooler and wetter regions in the north and Brittany. A fire near Bordeaux last month pushed a quarter of a million people from their homes.

In England, wildfires raced across the West Midlands, with several houses burned to the ground. More than 100 firefighters were deployed to control a blaze that burned at least six properties, the local fire service said. Chief fire officer Simon Tuhill called the fires "one of the most significant" incidents the region's fire service has ever dealt with. Three firefighters and a child were taken to hospital following a wildfire in Stourbridge. Some 1,017 wildfires have been recorded in England and Wales this year, according to National Fire Chiefs Council data. Eight crews also attended three wildfires in Leicestershire, the largest affecting about 10 hectares near Ibstock.

Fires spread to Greece and Croatia

In northern Greece, more than 300 vacationers and residents were evacuated by sea on Thursday after a wildfire swept through a pine forest in Halkidiki and threatened seaside homes, authorities said. In Croatia, at least 19 people were injured in a fire near the tourist town of Omiš, with two requiring hospitalisation in Split.

Health toll mounts

The first two heatwaves in May and June together caused 2,877 deaths in the UK, according to UK Health Security Agency estimates, nearly double the 1,504 heat-related deaths recorded during the whole of 2025. Figures published by NHS England on Thursday identified July's two heatwaves as a key reason why a record 2.5 million people attended A&E that month.

Dr Adrian Boyle, an A&E consultant at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine from 2022 to 2025, described the impact on elderly patients.

During this summer's five heatwaves I've seen elderly people get light-headed and dizzy and fall down a whole flight of stairs and break multiple bones, purely because of the heat.

He noted that patients taking diuretics or blood pressure medication were particularly vulnerable to dizziness, and that recovery from such injuries could take months.

Workers demand heat protections

Workers in kitchens, construction and other heat-exposed industries described increasingly dangerous conditions. Joshua Swinney, head chef at the Plimsoll pub in north London, said the pub added more no-cook dishes to cope. Construction worker Kenny Dinsdale, 65, warned of the risk to life from extreme heat and called for "Mediterranean-style hours" to avoid midday heat. Sarah Woolley, chair of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union, said already hot bakeries were getting hotter still. A campaign for a maximum working temperature in England is gathering pace, with Spain setting limits of 27C for sedentary work and 25C for light physical work, and Belgium enforcing thresholds ranging from 29C down to 18C depending on exertion level.

Forecast and outlook

The heat, linked to climate change and driven by a high-pressure heat dome over western Europe, is expected to shift east into Central Europe in the coming days, reaching the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. Cooler Atlantic air and thunderstorms were forecast to bring relief to western parts. In Spain, AEMET said north coast temperatures would drop to around 25C, though much of the country would remain above 30C. Italy was likely to see temperatures between 35 and 39C through the weekend, according to the Italian Air Force Meteorological Service, with rains potentially cooling some areas on Sunday.