Spain on Thursday mourned its third wildfire death this week and Greece began beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city Patras as an unrelenting heatwave stoked tinderbox conditions in southern Europe.

The extreme summer heat, which scientists say human-driven climate change is lengthening and intensifying, has fuelled blazes and strained firefighters across the region, including Portugal and the Balkans.

The fires have particularly scorched Spain, devouring almost 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) this year — more than double the area burned during the same period in 2024.

Spanish authorities said one person battling flames in the northwestern Castile and Leon region had died, taking the toll to three after earlier reporting fatalities there and near Madrid this week.

Fra

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