Europe faces worst wildfires on records as 'area bigger than Cyprus' burned
Wildfires have blazed through more than a million hectares of land in the EU this year so far, the highest amount since official records began.
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Alarming EU data showed at least 1,028,000 hectares of land had burned throughout Europe after several raging wildfires caused havoc in multiple countries.
This means an area bigger than Cyprus had been scorched this summer, with meteorologists labelling it as the worst wildfire season in years.
Spain and Portugal were worst hit by the fires, and accounted for two-thirds of the burnt area.
A 16-day heatwave in Iberia is thought to be the catalyst for the blaze in that region.
The fires killed at least eight people in the two countries and caused chaos forcing roads and rail services to close.
Read More: Summer 2025 will 'almost certainly' be warmest on record as Brits blasted with multiple heatwaves
10 wildfires still raged in Spain's Castille and Leon region on Tuesday.
Water-dumping planes from the Netherlands, France, and Italy helped the Spanish authorities tackle the flames, with firefighters from across Europe also set to arrive in the coming days.
Climate scientists say this type of extreme weather, seen in these regions for years, can be supercharged by hotter global temperatures driven by the burning of fossil fuels.
Earlier in August, smoke from the wildfires disrupted weather in the UK.
Smoke and Saharan dust drifted over to the causing overcast weather.
Wildfire smoke affects the skies colour through a process known as Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering.
When the light reaches the Earth's atmosphere, the sun's light hits molecules of nitrogen and oxygen which scatters the light.
