3 d. ago ‘A common enemy beyond ideologies’: Spain’s PM announces plan to tackle climate crisis

Pedro Sánchez says country’s deadly August wildfires show society needs to mobilise and take immediate actionSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a 10-point plan to prepare the country for the climate emergency, warning that “if we don’t want to bequeath our children a Spain that’s grey from fire and flames, or a Spain that’s brown from floods, then we need a Spain that’s greener”.Sánchez said August’s heatwave-fuelled wildfires – which killed four people, burned through an area six times the size of Ibiza, and required “the biggest human and technical deployment” ever seen in Spain – showed immediate action must be taken to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Climate change kills, Spanish PM tells deniers at launch of plan to tackle crisis

Pedro Sánchez says country’s deadly August wildfires show society needs to mobilise and take immediate actionSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a 10-point plan to prepare the country for the climate emergency, warning: “If we don’t want to bequeath our children a Spain that’s grey from fire and flames, or a Spain that’s brown from floods, then we need a Spain that’s greener.”Sánchez said August’s heatwave-fuelled wildfires – which killed four people, burned through an area six times the size of Ibiza and required “the biggest human and technical deployment” ever seen in Spain – showed that immediate action must be taken to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Heatwaves, wildfires and the hot summers that could change how we holiday

With rising temperatures causing chaos worldwide, what does it mean to be a tourist in a world on fire?• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here to get the newsletter in full“Where shall we go on holiday?” would not, ideally, be a stressful question.But the world in 2025 is far from ideal, and summer breaks in Europe and North America are no exception. Holiday hotspots are being ravaged by heat, fire, floods and drought as fossil fuel pollution warps the climate – and travelling to reach them in planes or on cruise ships spews far more planet-heating gas than anything else you and I are likely to do. (Rocket enthusiasts such as Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos, I assume, have not yet subscribed to Down to Earth.)‘We cannot do it the way our fathers did’: farmers across Europe struggle to adapt to the climate crisis‘Unlike any other kind of fear’: wildfires leave their mark across SpainEurope scorched by wildfires – pictures from space Continue reading...

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1 week ago Heatwave that fuelled deadly wildfires was Spain’s ‘most intense on record’

Country’s weather agency says 10-day period from 8-17 August was hottest since at least 1950, as fires still rageA 16-day heatwave Spain suffered this month was “the most intense on record”, the country’s state meteorological agency (AEMET) has said.Provisional readings for the 3-18 August heatwave exceeded the last record, set in July 2022, and showed an average temperature 4.6C higher than for previous such phenomena, the agency said on X. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Do heatwaves, wildfires and travel costs signal the end of the holiday abroad?

Leading researcher forecasts ‘beginning of the age of non-tourism’ despite industry returning to pre-pandemic highsIt was a prediction nobody wanted to hear. On the main stage of the world’s biggest tourism fair, Stefan Gössling, a leading researcher in sustainable transport, had just calmly announced the looming death of the holiday industry.“We have already entered the beginning of the age of non-tourism,” said Gössling, to an uneasy audience of travel agencies, car rental companies, cruise operators and hoteliers. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Wildfire explodes in California wine country as heatwave scorches US west

Multiple fires have ignited this week with searing heat expected to last days and extend to Pacific north-westMultiple wildfires have ignited across California as the state continues to scorch in a multi-day heatwave that is expected to last through the weekend.The largest this week, named the Pickett fire, exploded in size on Thursday as it burned in a remote area of Napa county, and covered more than 2,100 acres (850 hectares) by Friday morning. Evacuation orders and warnings have been issued Thursday for hundreds of residents around Calistoga, a small city in the region known for its wine, as firefighters faced challenging conditions, working through dangerously high temperatures and rugged terrain. The fire’s perimeter is 0% contained. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Terrifying moment tornado sweeps through Spanish town sending tables and chairs flying as country continues to battle wildfires amid freak heatwave weather

A 'Satan's Storm' hit the Costa Tropical south of Granada on Sunday, forcing holidaymakers and locals to evacuate beaches in resorts like Motril east of Malaga.

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2 w. ago Warning Labour’s rewilding plans could trigger surge in UK wildfires

Labour proposes to ban winter burning from over half of England’s peatland

Events

2 w. ago Spain suffers its worst wildfires on record as deadly infernos ravage area twice the size of London after two

Official figures from the Carlos III Health Institute show there were 1,149 excess deaths in Spain from August 3-18.

Events

2 w. ago Four dead as Spain hit by worst wildfires on record in 45C heatwave

Temperatures have soared to 45C in Spain in the past fortnight - so far fires have burned over an area the size of Mallorca

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2 w. ago Europe wildfires map: Spain deploys nearly 2,000 soldiers to tackle major blazes

Temperatures have soared to 45C in Spain in the past fortnight

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2 w. ago Moment tourists run for cover as freak 'Satan's Storm' lashes Spanish beach

In one of several weather events to sweep the continent in recent days, tourists sprinted for cover from a rare heat burst in near-hurricane force winds in southern Spain's Costa Tropical.

Society

2 w. ago Spain adds 500 more troops to battle wildfires as country bakes under extended heatwave

National rail operator Renfe said it suspended Madrid-Galicia high-speed train services scheduled for Sunday due to the fires

Events

2 w. ago Spain deploys 500 more troops to battle wildfires during extended heatwave

Spain is deploying 500 more soldiers to help battle wildfires that have ravaged parched woodlands during a prolonged heatwave, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said

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2 w. ago European wildfire smoke dampens UK heatwave with unusually hazy conditions

The UK should expect ‘enhanced sunsets and sunrises’ over the coming days, said the Met Office

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2 w. ago 'Severe and frequent' wildfires threat sparked by multiple UK heatwaves

Firefighters union raise alarm after Welsh staff diverted to tackle huge blaze in Dorset more than 100 miles away

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2 w. ago Heatwave wildfire hell for UK sees firefighters hit back over lack of resources

Ben Selby, Fire Brigades Union assistant general secretary said services had undergone "14 years of austerity" while wildfires increase as a result of the climate crisis

Events

2 w. ago ‘Extremely worrying’ situation in Spain as 14 major wildfires rage

The 12-day heatwave and southerly winds are worsening the crisis

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3 w. ago ‘No country is safe’: deadly Nordic heatwave supercharged by climate crisis, scientists say

Historically cool nations saw hospitals overheating and surge in drownings, wildfires and toxic algal bloomsThe prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say.Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by soaring temperatures, including a record run of 22 days above 30C (86C) in Finland. Sweden endured 10 straight days of “tropical nights”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C (68F). Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Brit hotspots are burning: Three are killed as wildfires tear through Greek Islands, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans as heatwaves hell continues

Sunseekers have been fleeing Greece 's Zakynthos and Kefalonia islands 'by the minute' as raging infernos ripped through homes and farmland.

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