The U.K. recorded its hottest day of the year Thursday during an excessively dry stretch that saw multiple fires break out as an intense stretch of hot weather continued to grip Europe.
The Met Office said the temperature of 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in west London was a tenth of a degree higher than the previous record set June 28. It remained below the U.K.’s August record of 38.5 C (101.3 F), set in 2003.
Britain, like France, is experiencing its fifth heat wave of the year, with the first recorded in May. The latest extreme heat means 2026 has now had a record four days with temperatures of 36 C (96.8 F) or higher. It also has matched 2022 with two days reaching 38 C.
Temperatures in France, meanwhile, have gone even higher, approaching 41 C (106 F) in several areas, from Aquitaine in the southwest to the Rhone River valley in the east, according to the national weather service.
At least two new grass fires broke out in different areas of the West Midlands in central England, officials said. Multiple homes were burning in Stourbridge next to a golf course, Sky News helicopter footage showed.
Britain and France ill-equipped for this sort of heat
The most intense heat is forecast to move eastward away from Britain and France on Friday and then recede over the weekend.
This summer has shown that both Britain and France are ill-equipped to deal with these levels of heat. Air conditioning is a rarity outside of shops and offices, for example.
In Britain, nurses have collapsed from heat exhaustion while working in hospitals, many housed in aging buildings that lack adequate cooling, the Royal College of Nursing said Thursday.
“When nursing staff are collapsing, feeling dizzy, sick or even being admitted to the very hospitals they work in because their workplaces cannot handle the heat, it shows just how badly they are being failed,” said Nicola Ranger, the college’s chief executive and general secretary.
Unsurprisingly, drought conditions are spreading
Like many parts of Europe, Britain and France are facing widespread drought conditions that have shriveled crops and drained rivers, heaping pressure on water resources for households, agriculture and the environment, and forcing governments and water users to seek both short- and long-term measures to mitigate the effects of human-caused climate change.
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Britain’s Southern Water, which oversees supplies in the south of England, has applied for a rare drought order which would ban businesses from nonessential water use, including cleaning cars and filling nondomestic swimming pools, saying an “exceptional” lack of rain is threatening supplies. Environment Secretary Angela Eagle will decide on the application, which would be the first such ban since May 2006.
With temperatures soaring, many people headed to beaches and outdoor pools or found other ways to cool off. In Bordeaux in southwestern France, children and adults sought relief in the city’s iconic “water mirror.” Some frolicked in fountains, splashed their faces and filled up water bottles. Birds too quenched their thirst.
Wildfire fears remain a clear and present danger
With the land parched and no sign of any meaningful rain coming, authorities in Britain and France remained on high alert for wildfires – while major blazes broke out further south in Europe.
French firefighters were back in action too after a desperate summer and are threatening to go on strike to demand more staff and resources to cope with increasingly extreme weather events.
One broke out late Wednesday in the northern Pas-de-Calais region, and another in Brittany, far from the hotter, drier and more fire-prone regions in southern France. A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux last month and pushed a quarter of a million people from their homes.
In northern Greece, more than 300 vacationers and residents were evacuated by sea Thursday after a wildfire swept through a pine forest and threatened seaside homes, authorities said.
The Fire Service said nine water-dropping planes and seven helicopters were assisting 250 firefighters around the Siviri resort on the popular Halkidiki peninsula. There were no initial reports of injuries or serious property damage.
In Britain, which is increasingly looking sandy brown rather than its traditional luscious green, firefighters have been out in force this week trying to contain a wildfire in the New Forest in southern England.
Some 1,017 wildfires have been recorded in England and Wales this year, according to data from the National Fire Chiefs Council, the same as last year’s record-breaking total.
Though not on the same level as those witnessed in France, Greece and Spain, they provide ample evidence of the need for the U.K. to adjust to a new reality.
U.K. prime minister mulls ban on disposable barbecues
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will consider imposing a ban on disposable barbecues amid the risk of further wildfires as extreme heat continues to grip parts of the U.K.
“I do believe we need to get the message out loud and clear,” he said. “People should not be using those barbecues outside at this moment in time.”
© 2026 The Canadian Press
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