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Millions of people across Europe are experiencing extreme weather as raging fires tore through villages forcing thousands to flee their homes.
The fires have covered parts of Italy, Britain, Greece and France.
After record-breaking temperatures in the UK on Tuesday, extreme heat is moving eastwards across the continent, leaving a trail of devastation in many rural areas and exposing the lack of preparedness even in some of Europe’s biggest cities. according to CNN.
Temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly 38 degrees Celsius, are forecast today and in the coming days in Germany, Hungary and Italy.
The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) said 19 European countries were at “extreme risk” of fires on Wednesday, in an area stretching from Portugal and Spain in the southwest to Albania and Turkey in the southeast.
On the outskirts of the Greek capital, Athens, firefighters are battling large blazes where wind is fanning the flames and smoke.
At least 600 people have been evacuated, including a children’s hospital, authorities said.
The flames have also touched part of Italy. Fires in Tuscany caused gas tanks to explode and forced evacuations overnight, according to regional president Eugenio Giani.
In Alsdorf, western Germany, three residents and two firefighters were injured in a blaze on Tuesday, and much of the country is braced for more fires as temperatures soar on Wednesday.
In France, fires have been raging for a week, while they advanced “very little” on Tuesday evening in the Gironde region, according to local authorities.
Several residential areas around London were engulfed in flames as temperatures reached 40C.
Globally, 188 all-time heat records were broken versus 18 cold records through July 16.
Studies have shown that extreme heat will increase in frequency, intensity and duration due to the climate crisis.
“We learn the hard way that we need to better prepare and protect our forests and lands to avoid living these nightmares every summer!” Virginijus Sinkevičius, the EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, tweeted on Wednesday.
Residents of several hard-hit regions of Europe have hit out at their leaders as extreme temperatures devastated the areas where they live.
Until Tuesday, the threat of wildfires in the UK was given little consideration by politicians or residents. But many parts of southern England were engulfed in smoke during the country’s hottest day on record.
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