Fires in Spain and France, hail in Balkans; Europe's erratic weather persists

MADRID/ATHENS, July 21 - Firefighters struggled to control Spain's biggest wildfire of the year on Tuesday and two firefighters were killed in a blaze in southwestern France as extreme heat persisted in Europe, with increasingly volatile conditions bringing drought and forecasts of severe hailstorms.

The fatalities occurred near an airport in the Gironde region, which was on high alert for wildfires, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said, two weeks after the death of another firefighter in the Savoie region in the French Alps.

In Spain's central Guadalajara province, a forest blaze raged out of control for the sixth day, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,200 people.

Emergency crews worked to contain the flames as temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) pushed fire danger to extreme levels, less than two weeks after Spain's deadliest wildfire in decades killed 13 people near Bedar, in the southern Almeria province.

Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent and many scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the intensity of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, while also creating conditions for sudden, destructive storms.

The continent has endured three stifling almost  back-to back heatwaves so far this year. Intense heat  has also been blamed for thousands of excess deaths in the May to June period.

PARTS OF ENGLAND PARCHED, HAIL IN BALKANS

In Britain, Thames Water said it would introduce usage restrictions for the 10 million customers it provides with drinking water in and around London, banning the use of outdoor hoses, sprinklers and pressure washers to conserve supplies.

England had received only 3% of its long-term average July rainfall, with the south and east of the country receiving nothing at all so far - the longest spell without rain since the mid-1990s, the British government's National Drought Group said.

In Europe's southeast, Greek authorities advised residents to stay indoors as the country endured its first major heatwave of the peak summer season with temperatures set to hit 40 C.

In central Athens, residents and tourists on the Acropolis Hill shielded from the heat with hats and umbrellas, while restaurants and cafes deployed fans blowing water mist to keep their customers cool.

The Reuters Climate Monitor, an interactive tool giving real-time data, showed the average high temperature across Western Europe at 26.3 C, 2.7 degrees higher than the seasonal average high for July 21 recorded between 1961 and 1990.

Greece's temperatures were 5.8 degrees above normal. Spain's average high of 33.2 C, was 5.3 degrees above what was typical in the past decades.

In Albania, residents and tourists alike sought the cool of street water fountains.

"I swear to God, the temperature is very high today. Today it is 42 degrees. You can't fight that without cold water," said Tirana resident Ferid Salihu.

In Serbia, the water level of the Danube fell to its lowest since 1946, forcing barges and ships to take on smaller loads to navigate Serbian stretches of the Danube and Sava rivers, river port authorities said.

Authorities across the Western Balkans have warned of a shift from heatwaves to hailstorms.

Several people were slightly injured in a hailstorm in Croatia's northern Adriatic resort of Rovinj, Croatian media reported. The storms will continue to spread to Slovenia in the north, across Bosnia and Herzegovina and southern Serbia to North Macedonia, according to local weather forecasts. REUTERS