PARIS — An intense heatwave gripping large parts of Europe fueled multiple wildfire outbreaks on Monday, stretching firefighting resources across several countries as authorities warned that prolonged high temperatures and dry conditions were sharply increasing the risk of new blazes.
France deployed hundreds of firefighters, water-bombing aircraft and helicopters to battle a fast-moving wildfire near the Fontainebleau forest southeast of Paris, where flames forced evacuations, disrupted rail services and prompted the partial closure of the A6 motorway linking the capital with southern France. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said investigators considered the fire's origin suspicious because several ignition points had been identified, although no official determination had been made.
The Fontainebleau blaze formed part of a broader pattern of wildfires across western and southern Europe as the continent experienced its third major heatwave of the summer. Authorities maintained high wildfire alerts in several regions while forecasting continued extreme temperatures through the middle of the week.
Spain continued to deal with the aftermath of a deadly wildfire in the southeastern province of Almeria, where officials said the death toll had risen to 13 and about 10 people remained missing. Emergency services said the fire had been contained but crews continued to monitor hotspots while investigators examined the cause. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was expected to visit the affected area.
In Britain, fire services responded to multiple vegetation fires, including a blaze in north Wales that prompted evacuations of rural homes. The U.K. Met Office said much of the country faced "very high" to "exceptional" wildfire risk after months of unusually hot and dry weather.
Scientists have repeatedly said that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves across Europe, creating conditions that allow wildfires to spread more rapidly. The World Health Organization last week warned that additional periods of dangerous heat could affect the region in the coming weeks, urging governments to strengthen heat-health preparedness.
Separate data published on Monday by EuroMOMO, a mortality monitoring network supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization, showed more than 10,000 excess deaths were recorded across 27 European countries during the record-breaking late-June heatwave. More than 9,000 of those deaths involved people aged 65 or older.
"It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme heat," Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut, which hosts EuroMOMO, told Reuters.
Authorities across the affected countries said firefighting operations would continue while extreme heat and dry weather persisted, with emergency agencies urging residents to follow evacuation orders and wildfire safety guidance.
