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France recorded more than 5,700 excess deaths during its June heatwave, authorities have said, as swathes of southern Europe continue to endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperatures.
The French national health agency said on Wednesday that it had recorded 5,764 excess deaths between 17 June and 2 July, an excess mortality rate of 36%.
More than half of the “unprecedented” total were recorded between 25 and 27 June, with deaths of people aged 75 and older accounting for about two-thirds of the excess mortality, the agency said.
Those who lost their lives between 17 June and 2 July died of “all causes”, none yet clearly linked to the heat, it said. France reported slightly fewer excess deaths – 5,722 – over the whole summer last year.
The announcement came as firefighters in Spain battled one of the country’s largest ever wildfires, which has burned about 32,000 hectares (79,000 acres) in the Guadalajara region north of Madrid, forcing the evacuation of 1,200 people from 34 villages in the sparsely populated area and confinement orders in 14 others.
Authorities said on Wednesday that the fire was beginning to stabilise, and residents of five villages were allowed to return home. The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said on a visit to the area that Spain had already suffered 22 major wildfires so far this year, four times more than in the same period last year.
More than 100,000 hectares had burned, the same as the whole-year average over the past decade, he said, adding that more must be done to prevent fires. “We must raise public awareness and not trivialise the climate emergency,” he said.
Spain’s national weather agency, Aemet, said the danger of wildfires remained “very high or extreme” and was expected to increase further in the coming days. It urged people to exercise extreme caution amid highs of 42-44C and a dry westerly wind.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent and scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, while also creating conditions for sudden, destructive storms.
The Guadalajara fire comes less than two weeks after a deadly blaze devastated a small expatriate community in southern Spain, killing 13 people including several foreigners in one of the country’s deadliest wildfires on record.
Spain’s ecological transition minister, Sara Aagesen, described the Guadalajara blaze as “one of the largest in the recent history of our country”, with data showing it was exceeded only by the 37,000 hectares burned by a fire in north-west Spain last year.
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In France, where two firefighters died in their vehicle in the south-western region of Gironde on Tuesday, authorities urged people to avoid using barbecues in areas experiencing heatwaves, saying nine out of 10 fires started as a result of human activity.
A wildfire has burned through 2,500 hectares in the south-eastern Var department, forcing 400 people to flee. “The situation has been very difficult, 1,100 firefighters fought all night,” William Vogl, a spokesperson for the Var firefighters, said.
In Greece, where temperatures were forecast to top 41C, authorities banned outdoor work at peak midday sun. In Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, 11 people were admitted to hospital, three with serious injuries, after a severe storm on Tuesday.
In Italy, several fires burned across Sicily on Wednesday, prompting scattered evacuations. The country’s civil protection agency has declared all of the island at the highest risk for wildfires, with high winds and 40C-plus temperatures fuelling several blazes.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
