Across Europe, successive heatwaves have intensified drought and left vegetation tinder-dry, fueling severe wildfires.
Two people died on Sunday as fires swept through the Greek island of Salamina, while a hundred French firefighters were on their way to help combat a blaze in Aragon, Spain, which has destroyed 16,600 hectares.
The blaze in the High Fens, a nature reserve in the east of Belgium, has been burning since Friday and firefighters from across the country and neighbouring Germany and Luxembourg have sought to contain it, as have the army and farmers. The fire is Belgium's biggest on record, more than double the size of a blaze in 2011 that burned close to 1,400 hectares, data from the European Forest Fire Information System showed.
Scientists say that human-caused climate change has increased the likelihood of the hot and dry conditions that allow wildfires to spread faster and burn longer.
