June 30, 2025 — Paris, Rome, Madrid — A fierce and early summer heatwave sweeping across southern Europe has triggered wildfires, health emergencies, and mass evacuations, as authorities brace for conditions expected to worsen in the coming days.
From France to Turkey, Portugal to Italy, governments have issued high-level alerts and urged citizens to shelter indoors, particularly vulnerable populations such as the elderly and the ill.
Firefighters across the region have been stretched to their limits as temperatures climbed to life-threatening levels, with readings as high as 44°C reported in parts of Spain.
In France, emergency services were mobilized in the southwestern region of Aude, where a wildfire broke out on Sunday in the Corbières area. With the mercury soaring past 40°C, a campsite and an abbey were evacuated as a precaution.
Météo France, the national weather agency, placed 84 of the country’s 101 departments on orange alert — the second-highest level — warning of a prolonged and intense heat dome that could settle over the country for days.
Further east, Turkey’s western province of Izmir saw forest fires erupt on Sunday afternoon, exacerbated by strong winds. Five neighborhoods in the Seferihisar district were evacuated as flames neared residential areas.
Firefighting aircraft were deployed to control the blaze, though local officials said containment was proving difficult due to the dry and windy conditions. Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET, issued red alerts for the southern regions of Andalusia and Extremadura, where temperatures reached 44°C.
In Madrid, photographer Diego Radames summed up a sentiment echoed across many European cities: “I feel that the heat we’re experiencing is not normal for this time of year. Every summer gets hotter, especially in the city centre.”
Italy, meanwhile, placed 21 cities on high heat alert, including major tourist destinations like Rome, Milan, Venice, and Florence. Hospitals across the country reported a 10% increase in heatstroke cases, largely among elderly residents, cancer patients, and the homeless.
“It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,” said Dr. Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine.
The rising temperatures have also been linked to ecological threats. In France, the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) reported a surge in distressed wildlife. “We are taking in birds in difficulty everywhere; our seven care centres are saturated,” said LPO president Allain Bougrain-Dubourg.
In Italy, the Mediterranean’s warming waters have begun to attract tropical and invasive marine species. The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) launched a campaign to monitor the appearance of venomous fish, including lionfish and silver-cheeked toadfish, now spotted off southern Italian coasts.
Portugal’s southern regions, including Lisbon, remain under red alert through Monday night. Firefighters on the island of Sicily tackled at least 15 blazes on Saturday alone.
Scientists warn that climate change is amplifying both the frequency and severity of European heatwaves. Combined with the urban heat island effect, cities are turning into dangerous hotspots.
As the crisis unfolds, southern Europe faces the dual threat of environmental and public health emergencies — and summer has only just begun.
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