Summer heatwave sparks wildfires across Europe and the US

Unusually high temperatures make fires spread and hundreds flee their homes

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  A home burns in Mariposa county, California, where firefighters are battling to bring the Oak blaze under control. AP

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  California officials said firefighters arrived at the scene early but were not able to contain the blaze. Getty

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  The fire began on Friday and is closing in on the Yosemite area, home to some of the largest and oldest sequoia trees in the world. Getty

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  California Highway Patrol officers stand next to a car that crashed into a ditch as the driver attempted to flee from the fire in Mariposa county. AP

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  Firefighter Joanna Jimenez holds a dog she found wandering in a fire evacuation zone in Mariposa county. AP

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  An aircraft drops flame retardant to control the fire. Reuters

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  The ruins of a home gutted by the fire smoulder near Midpines, north-east of Mariposa county. AFP

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  A row of mailboxes tagged with evacuation notices sit along Triangle road in Mariposa county. Bloomberg

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  The fire has consumed at least 6,314 hectares of land, an area more than half the size of Paris. Reuters

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  Mariposa county residents check a fire incident map not far from billowing clouds of smoke. EPA

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  An aerial view of the fire as it approaches Yosemite National Park. Reuters

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  Firefighters look on as the Oak Fire burns in Darrah, Mariposa county. Reuters

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  A firefighter douses flames near Aromas, California. AP

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  More than two decades of drought and rising temperatures have made California more vulnerable to bushfires. AFP

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  The blaze in Mariposa county represents a dangerous new front in the fight against fires in the western US. AP

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  Allison Baggett watches as the Oak fire burns close to her home in Mariposa county, shortly before evacuating. Reuters

Greece on Sunday was battling four major wildfires that have forced hundreds to flee their homes as soaring temperatures bring fears of more blazes there and in Spain.

Greece is experiencing a heatwave that began on Saturday and is expected to last 10 days. Temperatures are set to rise to 42ºC in some regions.

Greece is facing "an explosive cocktail of drought, high temperatures and strong winds", fire brigade spokesman Yiannis Artopoios told a briefing on Sunday evening.

Fires raged in the north, east and south of the country, including on the tourist island of Lesbos, where about 200 people were ordered to leave the village of Vryssa on Sunday to escape the flames.

Elderly women left the village carrying a few possessions in plastic bags, as thick smoke engulfed the first houses.

On Saturday, residents and tourists were told to leave the island's beach village of Vatera.

In the north-eastern region of Evros, hundreds of firefighters battled a wildfire that has been ablaze for four days in Dadia National Park, known for its black vulture colony.

Evros Governor Dimitris Petrovits told Athens News Agency that the authorities were doing all they could to protect locals and treat injured wildlife.

In the south, a fire in the Peloponnese caused the evacuation of three villages and a children's summer camp, while on the island of Crete a fire was raging inside a ravine.

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  A wildfire burns near Landiras, south-west France. AP

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  German firefighters, who will reinforce Greek crews this summer following devastating wildfires last year, at a welcoming ceremony in Tripoli, Greece. Reuters

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  A firefighter is silhouetted by flames in Louchats, in the Gironde region of south-west France. Reuters

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  A helicopter joins the effort to contain a wildfire at Garganta de los Infiernos nature reserve, in Jerte, central Spain. Reuters

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  A wildfire flares up near Landiras, south-west France. AP

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  A firefighter douses flames near Louchats, south-west France. Reuters

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  A firefighting aircraft drops water on a forest fire in Landiras, south-west France. EPA

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  Firefighters try to contain a wildfire at O Barco de Valdeorras in Galicia, north-west Spain. EPA

In Spain, a heatwave that has persisted for two weeks was expected to produce record-high temperatures of 45ºC in the southern region of Cordoba.

This part of Andalusia registered Spain's highest-ever temperature, 47.7ºC, last year.

The national weather office said the relentless heatwave since July 9 and the lack of rain since the start of the year across the Iberian Peninsula meant there was an "extreme" risk of fires.

In all, fires in France, Spain and Portugal have already burnt more land so far this year than was destroyed in all of 2021.

The area — about 517,881 hectares — is equal to the size of Trinidad and Tobago.

The World Health Organisation said on Friday that Europe's heatwave had led to "more than 1,700 needless deaths … in Spain and Portugal".

Firefighters in Britain were battling blazes in London on Sunday, days after the mercury climbed to 40.3ºC, breaking the country's record.

The London Fire Brigade said it was dealing with more incidents than usual, with 205 personnel and 28 fire engines sent to tackle fires at three sites across the capital.

The brigade urged the public to cancel barbecues and remove rubbish from grassland.

The US meanwhile sweltered in scorching heat set to exceed already record-setting temperatures, worsening a wildfire burning out of control in central California.

Tinderbox conditions in California sparked a fire on Friday near the Yosemite National Park and its giant sequoia trees, two days after President Joe Biden warned that climate change represented a "clear and present danger".

In France, the government said on Sunday that it was bringing in rules to curb energy waste that adds to the greenhouse gas emissions fuelling climate change.

Shops will be ordered to keep their doors closed when their air-conditioning or heating is on or risk a fine, Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told RMC radio.

Leaving the doors open when the air conditioning is on leads to "20 per cent more consumption and ... it's absurd", Ms Pannier-Runacher said.