Europe grapples with record heatwave, raging fires

A firefighter works to extinguish a wildfire burning in Pallini, near Athens, Greece July 20, 2022. (REUTERS)

A plan flies above a wildfire in Devetachi, Italy, July 20, 2022. (REUTERS)

A wildfire burns in Ntrafi, near Athens, Greece July 20, 2022.( REUTERS)

A record-breaking heatwave, widely blamed on global warming by scientists and climatologists, settled over southern Europe last week. In this picture, a woman is seen holding an umbrella to shelter from the sun during a hot sunny day in Madrid, Spain. (AP Photo)

On July 19, the UK recorded temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius for the first time. In the picture, people are seen covering their heads from the sun after a scaled down version of the Changing of the Guard ceremony took place outside Buckingham Palace, during hot weather in London. (AP Photo)

People take part during the annual water fight in the streets of the Vallecas neighborhood of Madrid, Spain, Sunday, July 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A tourist uses a fan to shade her face from the sun whilst waiting to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace, during hot weather in London, Monday, July 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

People relax on a boat on the lake in the Retiro park in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, July 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Swimmers walk on the Le Moulleau pier in Arcachon, southwestern France Monday July 18, 2022, as a large cloud of black smoke laden with ashes coming from a giant wildfire consuming the thousand-year-old forest bordering the Dune du Pilat fills the sky. (AP Photo)