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The UK government has scheduled an emergency Cobra meeting to coordinate response efforts as the nation grapples with extreme heat, widespread wildfires and expanding drought conditions. The Met Office warns of record summer temperatures.
Devastating wildfires across France and Spain have begun to stabilise after burning thousands of hectares and forcing mass evacuations, but meteorologists warn an approaching heatwave could reignite the crisis.
South Korea experienced its highest temperature on record when Yangsan hit 41.4°C, breaking the previous benchmark set five years earlier. The intense heatwave has affected much of the peninsula for days.
Spain has evacuated nearly 1,000 people from 12 villages as a major wildfire erupts in a northwestern national park bordering Portugal, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warning of an extremely tense fire situation across the country.
A major wildfire consuming 800 hectares of the famed Fontainebleau forest south of Paris has forced evacuation of over 1,000 residents. French authorities suspect deliberate arson based on multiple fire outbreaks clustered within one kilometre.