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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Alice Fowle (Metdesk)

Weather tracker: Europe’s heatwave sends temperature records tumbling

A firefighter sprays water to extinguish a blaze in a forest in Genille, central France.
A firefighter sprays water to extinguish a blaze in a forest in Genille, central France. Photograph: Guillaume Souvant/AFP/Getty Images

A hot topic over the past couple of weeks has been the heatwave that has been scorching large parts of Europe. This week has been no different with more than 200 monthly temperature records broken across France, and countries including Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Spain recording all-time highs. For example, Cazaux and Bordeaux experienced monthly all-time temperature records of 41.9C and 40.5C respectively.

One consequence of this prolonged heat is the drying out of soil and vegetation, permitting the development of wildfires across Spain, with tens of thousands of acres of land likely to be affected. According to scientists at the University of Lleida in Spain, climate change will extend the duration of fire seasons across many regions of Europe.

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