Wildfires rage in Turkey with firefighting efforts continuing
In Turkey, wildfires raged for a second day in the western province of Izmir, fanned by strong winds, forestry minister İbrahim Yumaklı said, forcing the evacuation of four villages and two town neighbourhoods, AFP reported.
Turkey’s coastal regions have in recent years been ravaged by wildfires as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists say is a result of human-induced climate change, AFP added.
A note from our own environmental team at the Guardian tells me that:
Fire weather – a combination of heat, drought and strong wind – is increasing in some parts of all continents.
Human-caused climate breakdown is responsible for a higher likelihood of fire and bigger burned areas in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the US and Australia, with some scientific evidence of increases in southern China.
Climate breakdown has increased the wildfire season by about two weeks on average across the globe.
Key events
German navy to patrol the Arctic against rising Russian threat
Germany’s defence minister said the country would send navy ships to patrol Arctic waters, citing the threat from a Russian military build-up in the region, AFP reported.
“Maritime threats are mounting… To name but a few, Russia is militarising the Arctic,” Boris Pistorius said at a press conference alongside his Danish counterpart, Troels Lund Poulsen.
The announcement comes at a time when attention to security in the Arctic has been heightened, with US president Donald Trump vowing to annex the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland for security reasons – while accusing Denmark of having under-invested in its security, AFP noted.
EU trade commissioner to fly for trade talks with US after new Ukraine deal
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on Monday he will fly to Washington on Tuesday for trade talks with the US administration.
“We are absolutely focusing on … a positive outcome,” he told reporters, Reuters said.
Šefčovič spoke after announcing the EU had agreed a new long-term trade deal with Ukraine, covering imports of food products from the war-torn country that have angered EU farmers.
You can see the EU’s full press release on the agreement here.
Kremlin says anti-government protests could amount to attempted ‘colour revolution’
The Kremlin said on Monday that it could not rule out the possibility that anti-government protests in Serbia, a close Russian ally, could be an attempted “colour revolution”, but that it believed the Serbian leadership could restore calm, Reuters reported.
The agency added that Serbian police on Saturday clashed with anti-government protesters demanding snap elections and an end to the 12-year rule of president Aleksandar Vučić.
On Sunday, Vučić insisted that he would not cave in to the 140,000 protesters who rallied in the capital overnight demanding early elections, while vowing more arrests following clashes, AFP added.
AFP journalists saw riot police using tear gas and batons as protesters hurled flares and bottles at rows of officers in several clashes following the massive gathering in Belgrade.
Months of protests across Serbia, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vučić, a populist, whose second term ends in 2027, when there are also parliamentary elections scheduled.
Putin wants Ukraine’s capitulation, German foreign minister warns in Kyiv
German foreign minister Johann Wadephul is in Kyiv today, where he warned that Russian president Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to surrender and is not ready for peace talks.
“Putin is not ceding on any of his maximalist demands – he doesn’t want negotiations, he wants a capitulation,” he said, as reported by AFP.
“Ukraine’s freedom and liberty is the most important task of our foreign and security policy,” Wadephul said in a statement released by his ministry, as he warned that Putin was “betting on a weakening of our support”.
His comments come after Russia has fired more than 500 aerial weapons at Ukraine overnight on Sunday, in a barrage that Kyiv described as the biggest air attack so far of the three-year war.
The bombing appeared to target several regions far from the frontline, he said, including in western Ukraine. The Russian army said on Sunday its overnight attack hit Ukrainian military-industrial complex sites and oil refineries, and that it had intercepted three Ukrainian drones overnight.
Jakub Krupa
Let’s take a moment to catch up with other, non-weather-related events across Europe.
Spain records highs of 46C and France under alert as Europe swelters in heatwave
Ajit Niranjan, European environment correspondent, and Sam Jones in Seville
A vicious heatwave has engulfed southern Europe, with punishing temperatures that have reached highs of 46C (114.8F) in Spain and placed almost the entirety of mainland France under alert.
Extreme heat, made stronger by fossil fuel pollution, has for several days scorched Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece as southern Europe endures its first major heatwave of the summer.
The high temperatures have prompted the authorities in several countries to issue new health warnings and scramble firefighters to prevent wildfires from breaking out.
“Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,” said António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, at a development conference in Seville on Monday.
Hottest ever opening day at Wimbledon in London
This year’s Wimbledon tennis championships have begun with the hottest opening day on record, according to the Met Office, as reported by PA.
Temperatures reached a provisional high of 29.7C (85.5F) at Kew Gardens in west London on Monday afternoon, surpassing the previous record of 29.3C set in June 2001.
Spectators queued from the early hours to enter the All England Club in south-west London, with many using fans, umbrellas and sunscreen to cope with the heat.
Vicki Broad, 57, a retired nurse from Swansea, who was the first person in the queue, said: “The sun has been tough but we’re in the shade now.”
You can follow all the action live on our tennis live blog here:
Spanish street thermometers show temperatures higher than they are
Sam Jones
Reports on scorching temperatures in Spain often feature photos showing street thermometers with terrifying readings that are often higher than the actual temperature.
Why?
Because street thermometers, which are exposed directly to the sun and to hot road surfaces, reflect the temperature of their electronic sensors, which are encased in boxes.
That’s why the temperature readings are higher than in the surrounding area. So best to take those readings with a pinch of salt.
Weather experts – such as Spain’s state meteorological office, Aemet – use specially constructed and officially regulated thermometer posts for their readings.
They explained all of this in this helpful social media thread last year.
Jakub Krupa
Earlier today, a reader has kindly shared a picture of a street thermometer in Seville, Spain showing 48 Celsius (11:56).
But, as Sam Jones, tells me, these measurements need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Over to him to explain.
Wildfires rage in Turkey with firefighting efforts continuing
In Turkey, wildfires raged for a second day in the western province of Izmir, fanned by strong winds, forestry minister İbrahim Yumaklı said, forcing the evacuation of four villages and two town neighbourhoods, AFP reported.
Turkey’s coastal regions have in recent years been ravaged by wildfires as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists say is a result of human-induced climate change, AFP added.
A note from our own environmental team at the Guardian tells me that:
Fire weather – a combination of heat, drought and strong wind – is increasing in some parts of all continents.
Human-caused climate breakdown is responsible for a higher likelihood of fire and bigger burned areas in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the US and Australia, with some scientific evidence of increases in southern China.
Climate breakdown has increased the wildfire season by about two weeks on average across the globe.
Sam Jones
travelling from Madrid to Seville
Just boarded train to Seville and a lovely member of staff of the state rail company, Renfe, has handed me this fetching fan.
“Boys don’t normally go for them,” she laughed as I grabbed it from her gratefully.
It is so bloody hot – and will be much, much worse in Seville.
Your experiences of European heatwave
Jakub Krupa
Thanks for more emails from you on how you’re dealing with the heatwave.
Lluís tells me he is just about coping with this heat “over the past few days, in Premià de Dalt, a small town 20 min north from Barcelona.”
“My son Pau (10) and daughter Llúcia (8), already on vacation, have intensively used our community pool.
But the most challenging is night-time, when our house is still warm from the day’s heat and outside the temperature has not gone below 26º C (not a minute throughout the night!). AC is paramount!”
Jamie and his friends were “lucky to have camped last night at 2000m just above Ax Les Thermes in southern France.”
“It was a balmy 30C at midnight and likely to peak at 34C today. We drank a decent whisky with ice cold water from an unpolluted mountain stream. It was pretty tidy. Pity the poor souls down in the valley where it’s to be 41C+ this afternoon.”
Michael emails in to say he and his friends just incredibly “completed a 40 mile walk over 4 days through hilly Southern Tuscany in 34C”
“Starting early, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, 2 litres of water each and a hotel with a cool swimming pool at the end of each day kept us going.
Now off to cool down in Florence where it is 38C!”
Make sure to get some gelato while there!
And finally, my favourite email of the day so far from Neil in “very hot Évora, Portugal (already 36 degrees at 11am, going to reach the low 40s again later today!)”.
In case you needed some different content, I am sharing some pictures of Nina, my pig, cooling off in her bath before the afternoon heat comes. Feel free to use!
Yes, Neil, we love pictures of pigs cooling off from the heat!
So, everyone, meet Nina:
How are you being affected by the heatwave?
We would like to hear from people in the south of Europe who are experiencing high temperatures. How are you coping and what steps are you taking to deal with high temperatures? What is your home and working environment like?
You can also separately email me on jakub.krupa@theguardian.com, as before!
Spanish weather agency confirms new June record
Temperatures in southern Spain soared to 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, a new record for June, the national weather agency said on Monday, AFP reported.
The mercury climbed to its new high on Saturday at 1440 GMT in Huelva, near the border with Portugal, edging out the previous record, 45.2C that was set in 1965 in Seville, it said.
The last three years have been the hottest on record for Spain, according to weather authorities.
Europe swelters under heatwave – in pictures
Arnel Hecimovic
