The record-breaking heat is forecast to intensify this week and has raised concerns about infrastructure problems including melting roads, widespread power outages and twisted train lines. Several areas in France saw record temperatures approaching or exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the national weather service. In Britain, where few homes have air conditioning, the highest temperature has also reached almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit, falling just short of the national record. Firefighters work at the scene of a fire in Pumarejo de Tera near Zamora, northern Spain, on June 18, 2022. Cesar Manso | AFP | Getty Images At least five countries in Europe have declared states of emergency or red warnings as fires, fueled by the warm conditions, burn in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Over the past week, more than 31,000 people have been displaced from their homes by wildfires in the Gironde region of southwestern France. Climate change has made heat waves and droughts more frequent, intense and widespread. Dry and hot conditions also exacerbate wildfires, which have become more destructive in recent years. And the cooler nighttime temperatures that usually provide critical relief from hot days are disappearing as the Earth warms. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday he visited areas affected by the fires in the western region of Extremadura. “Climate change is killing people, our ecosystem and what is most precious to us,” Sánchez said. Tourists fill Levante Beach in Benidorm to beat the high temperatures as a heatwave sweeps Spain on July 16, 2022 in Benidorm, Spain. Zowy Feet | Getty Images At least 350 people died in Spain from high temperatures last week, according to estimates from Spain’s Carlos III Health Institute. In Portugal, health officials said nearly 240 people died in the first half of July due to high temperatures, which reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit earlier in the month. In the UK, train service was limited amid concerns that rails would bend in the heat. The UK Met Office has, for the first time, issued a red heat warning, its most extreme alert. And Wales recorded its highest ever temperature of 98.8F on Monday, according to Britain’s national weather service. An aerial view shows boats on the dry bed of Lake Brenets (Lac des Brenets), part of the Doubs River, a natural border between eastern France and western Switzerland, in Les Brenets on July 18, 2022. Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images Flights were also delayed and canceled to and from Luton Airport in London after a defect was found in the runway surface due to extreme temperatures, according to the airport. Temperatures had reached 94 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday in north London and are forecast to rise on Tuesday. As people across Europe braved the heat, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a dire warning to the leaders of 40 nations gathered in Berlin to discuss measures to tackle climate change at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue . “Half of humanity is in the danger zone of floods, droughts, extreme storms and forest fires. No nation is immune. Yet we continue to fuel our addiction to fossil fuels,” Guterres said in a video message to leaders on Monday. —The Associated Press contributed reporting. Beachgoers react as smoke rises from forest fires in La Teste-de-Buch, Arcachon, France, July 18, 2022. Pascal Rossignol | Reuters
