Key facts
- A wildfire near Paris forced the closure of the A6 highway.
- Spain's wildfire death toll has reached 13.
- A heatwave is affecting western Europe, with new heatwaves expected in Italy.
- French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated the Fontainebleau fire's circumstances were suspicious.
- Scientists estimate thousands of excess deaths occurred in Europe during a late June heatwave.
A wildfire near Paris forced highway closures and the mobilization of water-bombing aircraft, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez suggesting the blaze's origin was suspicious. Meanwhile, Spain's death toll from its wildfires rose to 13 as a relentless heatwave continues to scorch western Europe.
The fire shut the A6 highway between Paris, Lyon and southern France. Scientists link frequent wildfires across parched Europe to climate change. The last heatwave was linked to thousands of 'excess deaths', according to scientists.
The blaze tore through a historic forest near Fontainebleau, home to a royal residence. France deployed hundreds of firefighters to tackle the fast-moving blaze. The death toll in Spain's Almeria province reached 13 after a British woman died from burns, with 10 people still missing.
Scientists monitoring excess deaths recorded thousands more fatalities than usual during a heatwave that swept through Europe and Britain at the end of June. Some 26 million people in France were under a red heatwave warning, with the heatwave expected to continue until mid-week. A new heatwave is expected to hit Italy, with temperatures potentially reaching 42-43 degrees Celsius in Sardinia.
This is the third heatwave of the year, following similar events in late May and late June. Extreme weather has damaged crops, affected power output from nuclear plants, and increased freight transport costs along the Rhine river due to low water levels. Farmers in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region are implementing measures for livestock management and dairy production.
European countries reported approximately 10,650 excess deaths during the late June heatwave. A UK study estimated 2,700 heat-related deaths in England and Wales alone during the May and June heatwaves, with 42% attributed to global warming.