Three men have died and thousands of people have been forced to flee as wildfires fuelled by an intensive heatwave sweep through various parts of Europe.
An employee of a Spanish equestrian centre who suffered serious burns died in hospital as winds of up to 70 kilometres (43 miles) per hour whipped flames through Tres Cantos, a wealthy suburb north of Madrid, officials said on Tuesday. The man was the first death from dozens of wildfires that have hit Spain since a heatwave began last week.
Spanish media said he had become trapped by the flames as he tried to save horses.
Later, officials in Castile and Leon in northwestern Spain confirmed another man had been killed while fighting fires.
Hundreds of residents of Tres Cantos fled their homes due to the risk from the fast-moving blaze, which was contained on Tuesday morning.
The fire damaged several homes and “above all” agricultural facilities, Carlos Novillo, Madrid’s regional environment chief, told reporters.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that rescue services “are working tirelessly to extinguish the fires” and warned: “We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious.”
In Montenegro, a soldier died and another was seriously injured when their water tanker overturned while fighting wildfires in the hills north of the capital, Podgorica.
Authorities warned residents to stay indoors due to smoke from a forest fire raging in the hills above Podgorica.
As fires become more commonplace, those affected feel the emotional and financial toll.
“It’s hard, very hard, you can see for yourself … The hardest thing for me is emotionally – everything that can be paid for and bought can be compensated, but the memories that burned in these four rooms and in the large attic of our house cannot be compensated,” Dragana Vukovia, a local affected by the wildfires in Montenegro, told Al Jazeera.
Elsewhere, about 2,000 people were evacuated from hotels and homes near the popular beaches of Tarifa in the southern region of Andalusia in Spain.
The wildfire there broke out near where a similar blaze forced evacuations earlier this month.
“We managed to save the residential area at the very last second,” said Antonio Sanz, the interior minister of Andalusia.
A Civil Guard police officer was injured when struck by a car while helping with the evacuation, he added.
In the northwestern region of Castile and Leon, more than 30 blazes were reported on Monday, including one threatening Las Medulas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its ancient Roman gold mines.
In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires, with the most serious near Trancoso in the centre of the country. More than 700 firefighters were deployed there.
Temperature records were broken at four weather stations in southern France on Monday and three-quarters of the country was under heat alerts on Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the Rhone Valley. The Rhone department banned outdoor public events.
Temperatures started rising on Friday in France’s second heatwave in just a few weeks and could remain high into next week, according to the national weather office Meteo-France.
Eleven Italian cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence, were placed on red alert on Tuesday due to the heat.
Hundreds of soldiers and firefighters were also battling wildfires in Albania.
Greece requested four water bombers from the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism to battle more than 100 wildfires.
The most dangerous new fronts were burning on the popular tourist island of Zakynthos and western parts of the country, including the Achaia region in the Peloponnese where around 20 villages were evacuated, according to the country’s fire service.
High winds hindered firefighting efforts on the Ionian Sea islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia, where authorities were on standby to evacuate tourist resorts which were not in immediate danger.
Other severe fires burned in several areas on the western Greek mainland and on the island of Chios in the eastern Aegean Sea.
Nationwide, the civil protection service issued more than 20 mobile phone alerts Tuesday with evacuation orders and guidance.
Heat alerts were also issued in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans, with temperatures expected to soar above 40C (104F). One child died of heatstroke in Italy on Monday.
Turkiye battles fires in northwest
Wildfires are also raging in Turkiye.
Firefighters battled multiple wildfires across the country on Tuesday, with a large blaze in the northwestern province of Canakkale burning for a second day after hundreds of residents were evacuated as a precaution.
Both the Canakkale Airport and the Dardanelles Strait, which connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, were temporarily closed due to the wildfires on Monday.
Wildfires in Canakkale province’s Ezine and Ayvacik districts were largely brought under control, but blazes in the province’s centre, south of the Dardanelles Strait, were still burning, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said in a post on X.
Seven planes and six helicopters were tackling the blaze on Tuesday, Canakkale Governor Omer Toraman said on X, adding that there was no immediate danger to residential areas.
Other wildfires in the northern province of Edirne and southern province of Hatay were brought under control while efforts were under way to battle another wildfire in the western province of Manisa, Yumakli said.
The wildfires coincide with what meteorologists expect to be the most intense day yet of the ongoing heatwave in Europe, with all regions under weather alerts.
Forecasters warned of highs about 40C (104F) and overnight lows that remain above 25C (77F).
