Thousands flee wildfires in France as temperatures reach extreme levels in southern Europe

Extreme heat is battering southern Europe, and in France more than twenty thousand people have been forced to flee wildfires, The Guardian reports. A particularly intense blaze on the country's Atlantic coast triggered a wave of evacuations, including thousands of tourists pulled from campsites and holiday accommodation as firefighters struggled to bring it under control. The heat is compounded by a marine heatwave, with parts of the Mediterranean Sea running about five degrees Celsius hotter than normal and air temperatures above forty-four degrees Celsius expected in Spain. Researchers warn that so-called Dantesque scenarios cannot be ruled out as the fires worsen.

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