Europe Wildfires rage amid 'molotov cocktail' conditions

Deadly heat of up to 44C is searing southern Europe as scientists warn of a "molotov cocktail" of climatic conditions fuelling vast wildfires across the Mediterranean and inland.

- Ajit Niranjan

Météo-France placed more than half the country under heatwave warnings yesterday morning, with 12 out of 96 administrative units on the mainland under the highest red alert. Spain's Aemet warned of "extreme danger" in Zaragoza and the Basque Country as it issued yellow and orange warnings for almost all of the rest of the country.

Both weather agencies forecast temperatures above 40C over the coming days and called for vigilance in the face of "a very intense, even exceptional" heatwave in parts of the European continent.

As scientists expressed alarm at the conditions, firefighters struggled to contain raging wildfires. In France, which brought its biggest fire since 1949, in the southern Aude region, under control on Sunday, authorities said one person had died in the blaze, while 20 firefighters and five civilians had been injured.

French forecasters said heat records were likely to be broken today and tomorrow as temperatures were forecast to pass 42C in the southwest. Temperatures hit a record high of 41.4C in the village of Tourbes, near Béziers, at the weekend.

In Italy, where temperatures of 40C were expected to hit Florence tomorrow, tourist trails were closed on Mount Vesuvius on Sunday as firefighters fought a blaze on the slopes of the volcano.