Weather 
Published on •Updated
Europe is tackling a spate of wildfires spurred by high temperatures and tinder-dry conditions due to a historically hot summer that has already contributed to the deaths of thousands of people.
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Scientists blame ever hotter and more frequent heatwaves on human-caused climate change.
Here are the latest developments this Monday morning.
Rain boosts Belgium’s fight
Rain started falling in Belgium on Monday to help its fight against the country’s biggest modern-day wildfire that has devastated some 3,000 hectares (30 square kilometres) of the High Fens park on the border with Germany.
Some 500 firefighters and troops are battling the blaze that has sent a huge cloud of black smoke across the region into neighbouring Germany and France.
Germany’s defence ministry said on Monday that two military water-bombing helicopters would be sent to Belgium.
The German town of Monschau, close to the border, ordered nearly 30 people living in two streets near the frontier to evacuate.
Like much of Europe, Belgium has experienced a new spell of intense heat and drought in recent days.
Temperatures reached as high as 37C in some parts of the country on Friday, creating conditions conducive to wildfire outbreaks.
Greece deaths
Two people died and hundreds were evacuated from popular beaches when two fires broke out on the Greek island of Salamis near Athens, the fire department said.
“Over 570 people were evacuated on coast guard patrol boats and other vessels,” a coastguard spokesperson told the AFP news agency.
After largely escaping the heatwave temperatures that blanketed much of Europe, Greece has been hit with several major wildfires since late July, fuelled by strong winds.
Thirty-six blazes have broken out over the past 24 hours around the country, according to the fire department.
Portugal fires
Hundreds of firefighters in Portugal were battling a series of blazes there.
At one near the border with Spain, near the village of Dine, five firefighters sustained minor injuries when their vehicle caught fire, local media reported.
Firefighters were battling several other fires near the Spanish border, including at Boticas and Chavez, said the civil protection agency ANEPC.
Death in Spain
A Spanish soldier died on Sunday while helping efforts to extinguish a major wildfire in Aragon, the northeastern region’s leader said, as the authorities deployed the largest firefighting arsenal in the region’s history.
French reinforcements were due to help contain the wildfire, which broke out on Monday and has threatened a 1,000-year-old monastery.
Croatia arrests
Croatian police said they had arrested four people suspected of starting some of the wildfires that have swept parts of the Adriatic coast in recent days.
The four are suspected of setting fires that scorched pine forests and olive groves as Croatia battles a wave of blazes fuelled by drought and heat.
France fire stabilised
A fire that burnt 1,700 hectares in the Landes department of southwestern France has been stabilised after three days of ground and air operations.
Local official Gilles Clavreul said the situation was evolving “favourably” as temperatures had dropped, 28C expected in the afternoon compared with 40C when the fire broke out on Thursday, and humidity had risen.
The local prefect said a first group of the 650 people who had evacuated due to the fire would be allowed to return to their homes Sunday evening
Additional sources • AFP
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