Britain’s record-breaking heat has mostly abated, but fires are still raging in Greece, Portugal and Spain.
Most of Europe slid back into more typical summer temperatures on Wednesday morning, but the aftermath continued from the record-setting heat wave that threatened lives, destroyed buildings and upended daily routines for much of the continent this week.
Here’s what we are still watching.
Fires are still raging in southern Europe.
Summer wildfires are a recurring feature in parts of Europe, but the blazes that have erupted around the continent over the past week hit earlier and harder than usual, and sometimes in unexpected places, officials said.
Fires continued to burn through areas of southern Europe, in countries like Spain and Portugal where the heat was still intense on Wednesday.
In Greece, hundreds of firefighters were still battling a blaze stoked by strong winds in mountains north of Athens, forcing hundreds of residents to flee. The authorities ordered the evacuation of several villages on Tuesday afternoon after the wildfire ate through forest, fanned by winds approaching gale force. A children’s hospital was evacuated and police officers helped firefighters carry older residents out of their homes.
The situation was getting better in Spain, where firefighters have managed to extinguish half of the wildfires that have ravaged the country in recent days, consuming more than 230 square miles of forests and killing two people, including a firefighter. Some 15 fires were still active across the country as of Wednesday morning.