Severe drought and record heat strain European infrastructure and trigger wildfires

Western Europe has recorded its warmest combined June and July on record, as global sea surface temperatures reached an unprecedented 20.96 degrees Celsius in July. The intense heat and prolonged dry conditions continue to fuel wildfires across France, Belgium, and the Balkans. In southwestern France, a blaze in the Landes department has scorched over 1,500 hectares of forest, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of residences.

Simultaneously, plunging water levels in major European rivers have severely impacted energy production. In Romania, military divers conducted a controlled blast along the Danube to direct necessary cooling waters toward an active nuclear power reactor, following prior capacity curbs and shutdowns in Romania and Hungary. The widespread drought has also exposed prehistoric fossils and historical relics along dried riverbeds across the continent.

Sources: Diário de Notícias (DN), Expresso, Jornal Económico, RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal)