Heatwave: Ferocious European heat heads north
By Malu Cursino
BBC News
Published
19 minutes ago
Fires in the south of France have ravaged 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of land since 12 July
Western Europe faces more sweltering temperatures on Tuesday as a ferocious heatwave heads north.
In France and the UK extreme heat warnings were issued while northern Spain recorded temperatures of 43C (109F) on Monday.
Wildfires in France, Portugal, Spain and Greece have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
The UK is expected to see its hottest day ever and experts say parts of France face a "heat apocalypse".
Several parts of France saw their hottest-ever days with the western city of Nantes recording 42C, the national weather office said.
Wildfires in recent days have forced more than 30,000 people to flee, with emergency shelters set up for evacuees.
Gironde, a popular tourist region in the south-west, has been hit particularly badly, with firefighters battling to control blazes which have destroyed nearly 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of land since last Tuesday.
"The idea that comes into my head is, it's a monster," Jean-Luc Gleyze, the president of the Gironde region said of the fires.
"It's a monster like an octopus, and it's growing and growing and growing in the front, in the back, on both sides. Because of the temperature, because of the wind, because of the lack of water in the air... it's a monster and it's very difficult to fight against it."