A deadly heat wave that has disrupted Europe for over a week spreads to Italy and the Balkans in August 2025, causing hundreds of excess deaths including approximately 1,000 in France alone. Southern France records temperatures exceeding 43°C while multiple regions surpass 40°C, prompting red heat alerts from Météo-France and likely heatwave thresholds across southern and central England. The extreme heat sparks simultaneous wildfires across Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, and Turkey, deploying nearly 5,000 firefighters in Greece and 700 in Portugal, while Turkey's Çanakkale fire temporarily closes the Dardanelles Strait to shipping. The crisis unfolds as Europe warms at roughly twice the global average since the 1980s, with land temperatures rising more than 2.2°C above pre-industrial levels.
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