Europe battles record heat and a surge of wildfires as thousands are evacuated

A prolonged heat wave that officials link to human‑induced climate change has sparked wildfires across the continent, forcing more than 500 residents of Luglon in France to flee. Britain and France are facing their fifth heat wave of the season, with forecasts of up to 40 °C in southern France and 38 °C in central England. The Royal College of Nursing reports nurses collapsing from heat exhaustion, while Southern Water has applied for a rare order to ban non‑essential water use, a request that Environment Secretary Angela Eagle will review. Across England, fire services are dealing with more than a thousand wildfires, and irrigation restrictions and a hosepipe ban now affect over 27 million people in Britain and 70 percent of France.