Temperature records broken as extreme heat grips parts of Europe

Unprecedented temperatures causing difficulties in south-west France, Croatia, Italy and Spain with wildfire destruction across Europe up 87%

In Spain, where a man died in a wildfire after suffering burns on 98% of his body, the high heat did not break a large number of records but still rang alarm bells.

Extreme heat is breaking temperature records across Europe, early measurements suggest, and driving bigger and stronger wildfires.

In south-west France, records were broken on Monday in Angoulême, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion and Saint-Girons. Météo France said the “often remarkable, even unprecedented, maximum temperatures” in the region were 12C above the norm for the last few decades.