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 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 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 in 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 EU 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 Thursday, the interior ministry said.
At least three people have died in recent days, according to officials, including a 37-year-old volunteer in the region of Castilla y León. The regional government there said Thursday that he 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 an “extreme risk” red alert — its highest level — for the Badajoz region in the west of the country Thursday, as forecasters warned that temperatures would reach or possibly exceed 44 degrees Celsius (over 111 degrees Fahrenheit). Orange alerts — a tier below but still representing a “significant risk” — were in place for several other regions, with expected temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius (about 108 degrees Fahrenheit).
Greece
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.
Thursday morning, the country’s fire service spokesperson 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 spokesperson, 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 Thursday, the interior ministry said on social platform 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 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 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 42 degrees Celsius (over 107 degrees Fahrenheit) in Évora, a historic city that is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Italy
The health ministry placed 10 cities — including Florence, Rome and Venice — under the highest-level heat alert for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, indicating conditions 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.
