European countries battle multiple wildfires as record heat grips the
continent
[August 15, 2026]
By ANGELA CHARLTON and SYLVIA HUI
PARIS (AP) — Firefighters across Europe struggled against multiple fires
Friday as a new wave of record-breaking heat baked a swath of the
continent, their task further complicated by exceptionally parched
landscapes.
The historic temperatures are linked to human-caused climate change, and
are hitting countries more used to long cold seasons and ill-equipped
for this sort of heat, with limited air conditioning.
More evacuations in France as fire affects more regions
With France experiencing its driest year ever, a new fire raced through
woodlands overnight in the Landes region on the southwest coast. The
blaze forced more than 500 people to evacuate their homes in the town of
Luglon as hundreds of firefighters deployed to the area, the regional
administration said Friday.
It’s one of several fires scorching forests around France this week,
including in normally cooler and wetter regions in the north and
Brittany. A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux last month and
pushed a quarter of a million people from their homes.
France also has shut down six nuclear reactors in recent days because of
extreme heat and drought — and because a mass of jellyfish washed up
outside one power plant on the English Channel coast, utility company
EDF said. Large numbers of jellyfish are appearing on many French
beaches in connection with unusually warm sea temperatures.
In a statement, the company said the shutdowns had minimal impact on
France’s electricity production. It said extreme weather poses no safety
risks to the reactors themselves.
UK wildfires come as London records its hottest day of the year
In the central English town of Stourbridge, where a huge blaze started
Thursday, TV footage showed the fires consuming houses, with many left
without roofs as flames burned inside the charred walls. About 20 to 30
homes were completely destroyed, Stourbridge lawmaker Cat Eccles told
the BBC.
A woman who was evacuated from her Stourbridge home said police knocked
on her door and urged her to leave immediately.
“They thought the fire was changing directions, and they didn’t know
which direction it was going in,” Jane Baxter told BBC Radio. “So, it
was literally ‘grab what you need and get out.’”
Simon Tuhill, chief fire officer of West Midlands Fire Service, said an
investigation will be launched but the fire was believed to have started
in the grassland before spreading to homes nearby.
Nineteen people and six firefighters were hospitalized for smoke
inhalation and other injuries from multiple wildfires in the West
Midlands region. In nearby Stoke-on-Trent, a 23-year-old man and a
24-year-old woman were arrested Friday on suspicion of arson over a
large grass fire that spread quickly.
The Met Office, the official weather agency, said 38.1C (100.6 F) was
recorded in west London on Thursday, marking the hottest day of the
year. While temperatures cooled slightly on Friday, many parts of the
country have seen little to no rain for weeks. This July has been the
driest in England and Wales since records began in 1836.
Spain moves kings' remains to avoid fire
Spanish authorities on Thursday night transferred the remains of three
11th Century kings from a monastery in the northeastern Aragón region
near an active wildfire.
The remains were taken to a museum about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south
of the 10th-century San Juan de la Peña monastery, which remained
unharmed Friday, according to regional authorities.
Paintings, liturgical objects and the clothes of a notable 18th-century
Spanish count were among the other items removed from the monastery.
The wildfire was not yet contained midday Friday with some 800 residents
evacuated. Temperatures were expected to cool slightly Saturday.
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Thick smoke drifts over the Gey district from a forest fire in
Hürtgenwald, Germany, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Federico Gambarini/dpa
via AP)
A separate, much larger wildfire in southern Spain has burned more
than 300 square kilometers (120 square miles) in the province of
Huelva, also forcing evacuations.
Firefighters battle forest fire in Germany
All 1,800 residents of the village of Gey in western Germany were
evacuated after a wildfire with shifting winds in the nearby Hürtgen
forest threatened to reach their homes. Nearly 300 hectares (1.16
square miles) of forest were ablaze on Friday morning, local
authorities said.
Unexploded ordnance from World War II in the forest hampered
firefighting efforts, German news agency dpa reported.
The fire advanced to within 300 meters (1,000 feet) of Gey, which
sits on the edge of the forest near the Belgian border. The cause of
the blaze remains unknown.
Germany has set a new record for heat-related deaths so far this
year, surpassing the 2018 level for the entire year, the Robert Koch
Institute said Thursday. An estimated 12,500 people died from
heat-related causes between Jan. 1 and Aug. 2.
Fire in Croatia leaves 1 dead, 14 hospitalized
In Croatia, one person was killed and 14 people were hospitalized,
of whom seven remained in life-threatening condition early Friday,
from a fire that raged overnight by the coastal town of Omis and
forced more than 1,000 people to evacuate their homes. The person's
body was found as police combed through the burned-out area.
The fire erupted late Thursday in an Omis suburb and quickly spread
because of strong wind. The regional maritime authorities said 194
people, including children, were plucked from the sea and from
various boats as they tried to flee the fire.
Firefighters put out the blaze by Friday morning as other crews in
planes headed further south toward the Peljesac peninsula, where
another wildfire broke out overnight.
Firefighters keep Albania's largest wildfire from spreading to
homes
Albania has been battling dozens of wildfires in recent weeks, with
11 active fires reported across the country Friday.
The largest fire is in the Gure-Lure area, where the perimeter near
residential homes has been brought under control.
Three people have been prosecuted over that fire, which engulfed
Lura National Park. They are suspected of failing to take measures
to protect the territory from fire, authorities said.
Meanwhile, in northern Greece, more than 300 vacationers and
residents were evacuated by sea Thursday after a wildfire swept
through a pine forest and threatened seaside homes, authorities
said.
Belgium expected to set another heat record
Belgium was expecting to hit its highest temperature of the summer
on Friday, climbing to 37 C (98.6 F) in the capital, Brussels.
The mercury was also set to hit 37 C (98.6 F) in the neighboring
Netherlands. The country is suffering from severe drought, with
water shortages in some areas, but Dutch authorities have held off
declaring a water crisis as rain is expected in the coming days.
___
Hui reported from London. Stefanie Dazio in Berlin; Claudia Ciobanu
in Warsaw, Poland; Zana Cimili in Pristina, Kosovo; Jovana Gec in
Belgrade, Serbia; Lorne Cook in Brussels; and Suman Naishadham in
Madrid contributed to this report.
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