By Guillermo Martinez, Manon Cruz and Emma Pinedo
CONDEMIOS DE ABAJO, Spain/COTIGNAC, France July 22 (Reuters) - Firefighters battled huge blazes in Spain and France on Wednesday, with the risk of more wildfires very high across much of Spain even as a major one raging in its central Guadalajara province receded, allowing some residents to return home.
In France, where two firefighters died on Tuesday as their truck was engulfed in flames in the southwest region of Gironde, authorities urged people
to avoid using barbecues in areas hit by heatwaves, stressing that nine out of 10 wildfires start, accidentally or not, as a result of human activity.
Meanwhile, in the Western Balkans, the danger has shifted from heatwaves to hailstorms, with several people injured in North Macedonia and eastern Kosovo.
Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent and 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, virtually 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.
The Reuters Climate Monitor, an interactive tool providing real-time data, showed the average high temperature across Western Europe is forecast to be 26.6 C, which is three degrees above the normal high for July 22 in the period from 1961 to 1990.
SPANISH WILDFIRE
Spain's worst wildfire so far this year has burned an estimated 32,000 hectares in the Guadalajara region. It started to stabilise on Tuesday after forcing evacuations in 34 municipalities and confinement orders in 14 others.
Castilla-La Mancha's INFOCAM fire service said residents of five villages had been authorised to return, although other restrictions remained in place. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to visit the affected area later on Wednesday.
Spain's weather agency AEMET said the danger of wildfires remained "very high or extreme" across most of mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands and was expected to increase further in the coming days.
It urged people to "exercise extreme caution" as the ongoing heatwave combined with dry thunderstorms and Saharan dust.
AEMET spokesperson Ruben del Campo said the heatwave was expected to peak on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching 39-42 degrees Celsius across swathes of the country.
While temperatures will ease slightly in some areas on Thursday, a dry westerly wind is forecast to drive a fresh surge of heat in Mediterranean regions, where highs of 42-44 C could be recorded in parts of the Ebro and Guadalquivir valleys, inland Valencia, Murcia and eastern Andalusia.
A marked cooldown is expected from Friday, with temperatures dropping sharply on Saturday to near or even below average levels in parts of central and western Spain.
However, the respite may be brief. Temperatures are forecast to rise again from Sunday, and intense heat could return across much of Spain early next week.
FRANCE FIRES
In France, less severe temperatures and lighter winds aided efforts to fight a wildfire that has burned 2,500 hectares in the southeastern Var area, damaged dozens of homes and forced 400 people to flee their homes, local authorities said.
At 7 a.m. (0500 GMT), helicopters resumed dropping water on the Var wildfire, which is still active.
"The situation has been very difficult. Some 1,100 firefighters fought all night," Commander William Vogl, a spokesperson for the Var firefighters, said on RMC radio. The fire was not yet contained but winds should be "more favourable" on Wednesday, he said.
Prefect Simon Babre said barbecues were banned, and he also asked municipalities to cancel any plans for traditional summer fireworks.
Another fire was raging in the Hautes-Alpes, in the south-east, officials said.
HEAT AND STORMS
In Greece, the capital Athens and other eastern and mainland areas were sizzling for a third day, with temperatures forecast to top 41 degrees Celsius. Authorities have banned outdoor work at peak midday sun and advised employers to allow remote work for vulnerable workers.
In Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, 11 people were admitted to hospital, three of them with serious injuries, after a storm on Tuesday night felled trees, damaged roofs and caused power outages across the Balkan country, local media reported.
Roads were blocked and some towns left without electricity and water.
In Kosovo, the Hydrometeorological Institute said more storms were expected on Wednesday and warned of possible lightning strikes, damage to the electricity network, power outages, flooding and property damage.
Local media showed roofs being blown away, torrential rain and residents covering their cars with blankets on Tuesday to protect them from hail.
(Reporting by Manon Cruz in Cotignac, France, Guillermo Martinez in Condemios de Abajo, Spain; Emma Pinedo in Madrid, Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Fatos Bytyci in Tirana, Angeliki Koutantou in Athens, Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Gareth Jones)
