A wildfire in Spain and high temperatures elsewhere in Europe have claimed another six lives as the continent swelters in temperatures topping 40C, EDnews reports, citing BBC.
Two farmers died when they became trapped by flames near the town of Cosco in Spain's Catalonia region. Authorities said a farm worker had appealed to his boss for help, but they were unable to escape as fire spread over a large area.
In Italy, two men died after becoming unwell on beaches on the island of Sardinia, and a man in his 80s died of heart failure after walking into a hospital in Genoa.
A 10-year-old American girl collapsed and died while visiting the Palace of Versailles south-west of Paris, media said.
According to French broadcaster TF1, she collapsed at the courtyard of the royal estate, in front of her parents, at around 18:00 local time on Tuesday. Despite efforts by the castle's security team and emergency services, she was pronounced dead an hour later.
France's ecological transition minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said earlier that two heat-related fatalities had been recorded in France and that more than 300 people had been given emergency care.
The European continent is experiencing extremely high temperatures, a phenomenon that the UN's climate agency said is becoming more frequent due to "human-induced climate change".
Both Spain and England had their hottest June since records began. Spain's weather service, Aemet, said last month's average temperature of 23.6C (74.5F) "pulverised records", surpassing the normal average for July and August.
The two men who died in the fire in Catalonia were identified later as the farmer owner and a worker aged 32 and 45.
Emergency services said the fire had spread to an area of up to 6,500 hectares.
Aemet forecast temperatures of 41C in the southern city of Córdoba on Wednesday, and said overnight temperatures were as high as 28C in the nearby town of Osuna the night before.
France has registered its second-hottest June since records began in 1900. June 2023 was hotter.
Four departments in France remained on the red alert level for heat on Wednesday, the highest level. These include Aube, Cher, Loiret and Yonne, according to Météo-France.
