The heat wave across Western Europe continues as parts of the UK reached record breaking highs.
Video / @CommsCreatives via Storyful / AP
Parts of Britain are ablaze after the country sweltered through its hottest day on record on Tuesday in conditions described as "absolute hell".
The London Fire Brigade declared a "major incident" as several large fires raged across the capital. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the situation was "critical" as the fire service dealt with five times the usual number of call-outs.
According to the Met Office, the UK's equivalent of the Meteorological Service, no fewer than 34 weather stations around the country recorded their highest ever temperatures.
After a record breaking day, turning alot fresher with temperatures returning to near normal values from the west, still feeling very warm and locally hot across parts of the south and east though#heatwave2022#heatwavepic.twitter.com/KSaA2DthyM
A record-breaking high of 40.3C was recorded the Royal Air Force base of Coningsby in Lincolnshire in England's east.
Heathrow Airport, south west of London, got to 40.2C That was then equalled in St James' Park in central London close to Buckingham Palace. Kew Gardens, in west London, reached 40.1C.
A man uses a newspaper as a fan while traveling on the Bakerloo line in central London. Photo / Yui Mok, PA via AP
Here are the highest temperatures across the country today 👇
As the nation watched with a combination of horror and fascination, Met Office chief scientist Stephen Belcher said such temperatures in Britain were "virtually impossible" without human-driven climate change.
He warned that "we could see temperatures like this every three years" without serious action on carbon emissions.
A man refreshes his face at a fountain in Trafalgar Square in central London. Photo / Aaron Chown, PA via AP
The intense heat since Monday has damaged the runway at London's Luton airport, forcing it to shut for several hours, and warped a main road in eastern England, leaving it looking like a "skatepark", police said. Major train stations were shut or near-empty Tuesday, as trains were cancelled or ran at low speeds out of concern rails could buckle.
'Major incident' declared
Flames on a suburban street in London. Image / Sky News
On Tuesday afternoon, with temperatures peaking, the London Fire Brigade declared a "major incident" as firefighters battled several significant fires across the city. The organisation pleaded with people not to call them unless it was a genuine emergency.
Fire brigades in Hertfordshire, just north of London, and Leicestershire, in the English midlands, have also now declared major incidents.
Fire destroyed houses in Wennington, Greater London, after a series of grass fire broke out around Britain's capital. Photo / Getty
On a normal day the London fireys deal with fewer than 350 calls for help; on Tuesday that reached 1600 call-outs by later afternoon.
Large fires also occurred in Leeds, Kent and Norfolk.
We have declared a major incident as firefighters battle several significant fires across the capital during today’s record-breaking heatwave. For the latest on those, follow this account @londonfirehttps://t.co/1ThCGrc33Kpic.twitter.com/Tp4J0l2Zkr
London faced what Mayor Sadiq Khan called a "huge surge" in fires because of the heat.
Aerial footage from the UK's Sky News showed multiple buildings ablaze in Wennington, a village in London's east. Wind blew the flames from grassland to houses. Several homes were destroyed with 15 fire engines in attendance.
"I saw the black smoke and the helicopters came over and more police came into our neighbourhood and it was really spreading very fast," Wennington resident Lynn Sabberton told Sky News.
"It just spread so quickly, I think the wind caused the fire to go our way towards the village."
The scene of a blaze in the village of Wennington, east London today after the UK was hit by a heat wave that triggered wildfires from Portugal to the Balkans. Photo / AP
The huge fire could be seen by motorists on the busy M25 motorway that encircles London.
Flames were also seen close to the major A2 highway that links London with the cross Channel port of Dover.
Two people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation due to another fire at Dagenham in East London.
One firefighter told Sky conditions were "absolute hell".
Fire engine racing across Tower Bridge. Looks like smoke in east London. Air feels hot. pic.twitter.com/I3F1Ikk91U
Thousands of Brits worked from home to avoid the heat and the resulting chaos. At least 171 schools closed their doors, while others told children to wear looser clothes instead of uniform.
Hospitals cancelled non-emergency operations as airconditioning units failed, and postmen were told to stop delivering mail because of the intense heat.
A swimmer at Canary Wharf docklands in east London as the UK shattered its record for highest temperature ever. Photo / AP
At least six people were reported to have drowned while trying to cool off in rivers, lakes and reservoirs across the UK In Spain and neighbouring Portugal, hundreds of heat-related deaths have been reported in the heat wave.
Climate experts warn that global warming has increased the frequency of extreme weather, with studies showing that the likelihood of temperatures in the UK reaching 40C is now 10 times higher than in the pre-industrial era.
A firefighter cries near a wildfire in the Losacio area in northwestern Spain. Photo / Emilio Fraile, Europa Press via AP
The Met Office issued its first ever red warning for heat and cautioned that "thousands could die" thanks to the heatwave.
Extreme heat broiled other parts of Europe, too. In Paris, the thermometer in the French capital's oldest weather station – opened in 1873 – topped 40C for just the third time. The 40.5C measured by weather service Meteo-France on Tuesday was the station's second-highest reading, topped only by a blistering 42.6C in July 2019.
Drought and heat waves tied to climate change have also made wildfires more common and harder to fight.
A couple stands on the Le Moulleau pier in Arcachon, southwestern France, under clouds from a wildfire consuming the 1000-year-old forest bordering the Dune du Pilat. Photo / Sophie Garcia, AP
In the Gironde region of southwestern France, ferocious wildfires continued to spread through tinder-dry pine forests, frustrating efforts by more than 2000 firefighters and water-bombing planes.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from homes and summer holiday spots since the fires broke out July 12, Gironde authorities said.
In Greece, a large forest fire broke out northeast of Athens, fanned by high winds. Fire Service officials said nine firefighting aircraft and four helicopters were deployed to try to stop the flames from reaching inhabited areas on the slopes of Mt Penteli, about 25km northeast of the capital. Smoke from the fire blanketed part of the city's skyline.
More than 1000 fatalities in mainland Europe have already been blamed on the heatwave.
