Southern Europe is sweltering under life-threatening heat that has fueled deadly wildfires and forced thousands of people to evacuate this week.
Forecasters warned that temperatures in some places would surpass 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday.
The dangerous heat is the result of a large high-pressure system drawing in warm, dry air over the continent, and it could last through at least Monday for some places. Analyses have shown that climate change has increased the likelihood of such extreme heat. And the abnormally high temperatures this summer are contributing to the intensity of the wildfires by making vegetation drier and more likely to ignite.
Nearly 440,000 hectares, or about 1.1 million acres, have burned in the European Union since the beginning of the year, compared with about 189,000 hectares (about 466,000 acres) over the same period in 2024, according to data shared this week by the bloc’s research center.
Here’s what you need to know about the wildfires and the heat gripping Europe.
Spain
Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to fight fires in Spain, where about 11 blazes were burning on Thursday, the interior ministry said.
At least three people have died in recent days, according to officials, including a 37-year-old volunteer who the regional government of Castilla y León said Thursday had succumbed to his wounds after being admitted to the hospital with severe burns.
The blazes have prompted the evacuations of more than 9,000 people, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the interior minister, said Thursday in an interview on Televisión Española.
Spain’s national meteorological agency issued orange-level “significant risk” alerts for several regions on Thursday as forecasters warned that temperatures would reach 42 degrees Celsius (about 108 degrees Fahrenheit) in several places.
Greece
The authorities in Greece have deployed nearly 5,000 firefighters, 62 aircraft and several Coast Guard vessels to several fires around the country in recent days.
On Thursday morning, the country’s fire service spokesman said the overall national picture had “improved” after an “all-night battle” from firefighters — even as he warned that the threat was not over.
“Today is expected to be a very difficult day, as a very high fire risk is predicted for most areas of the country,” the spokesman, Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis, said.
On Wednesday night, he said that firefighters were dealing with 109 blazes and that dozens of people had been transported to hospitals.
France
Much of France was under alert for high temperatures on Thursday, the interior ministry said on X, amid a dayslong heat wave.
A wildfire in the Aude region of southwestern France killed one person and injured several others, including firefighters, over the weekend, the local government said in a statement on Sunday.
More than 2,250 firefighters and rescuers were deployed to the blaze and managed to bring it under control by Wednesday, according to a social media post from France’s interior ministry. It said more than 16,000 hectares, or about 40,000 acres of land, had burned.
After several sweltering days, the heat eased a little on Thursday as a wave of red alerts across were downgraded to orange. On Wednesday, Météo-France, the French weather service, said that the temperatures were “abnormally high” and “well above seasonal norms.”
Portugal
Several wildfires were burning in Portugal on Thursday, according to a government tracker.
The Portuguese weather service issued orange-level heat alerts for much of the country, with temperatures forecast to reach 41 degrees Celsius (about 106 degrees Fahrenheit) in Évora, a historic city that is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Italy
The health ministry placed 15 cities — including Florence, Rome and Venice — under the highest-level heat alert on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, indicating that conditions were dangerous even for healthy, active individuals.
Forecasters were predicting temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) later in the week.
Britain
After abnormally high temperatures early in the week, the U.K. Health Security Agency brought health warnings down to yellow, the lowest tier of alert, on Wednesday. The alerts will be in place until Monday evening.
Aritz Parra contributed reporting.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
Nazaneen Ghaffar is a Times reporter on the Weather team.
The post What to Know About the Heat Wave and Wildfires in Southern Europe appeared first on New York Times.
