Smoke from wildfires raging across Europe has blown thousands of miles causing thick clouds to blot out the sun over swathes of the UK.
Spain has been battling 14 major fires driven by high winds that have already killed seven people and burned an area the size of London.
Friday’s bright summer weather, which made thousands flock to the beach in heatwave conditions, came to a dismal end on Saturday in the UK.
The Met Office posted on X: ‘Noticed the sky isn’t as blue today? Smoke from wildfires in Spain & Portugal, plus Saharan dust, has drifted over the UK.
‘Expect enhanced sunsets & sunrises in the coming days — deeper reds & oranges thanks to light scattering.’
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Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years. A nearly two-week heatwave and southerly winds were worsening the situation in Spain.
Spain’s national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in the north and west of the country, as temperatures are expected to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on the north coast.
Wildfires have burned more than 157,000 hectares in Spain so far this year, almost double the annual average, according to the European Union’s Forest Fire Information Service.
In Galicia, several fires converged to form a large blaze, forcing the closure of highways and rail services to the region.
‘We are waiting for the fire to come down to try and stop it, so it does not get to the houses,’ Loli Baz, 52, said from the village of Villanueva de la Sierra in Zamora.
A second volunteer firefighter has died after battling a wildfire in the northern Spanish province of Leon.
Local media identified the man as 37-year-old Jaime Aparicio, who suffered burns to 85% of his body after being trapped alongside another volunteer near the town of Nogarejas as they attempted to create firebreaks with brush cutters.
His colleague Abel Ramos, 35, died on Tuesday. On Monday, a separate fire killed a man on the outskirts of Madrid.
Police said they arrested a man in northern Zamora province for starting a fire on a plot of land used to dump rubbish illegally.
The hot weather caused it to spread rapidly, burning 4,000 hectares (15.4 square miles) and leaving five people injured, they said.
In neighbouring Portugal, meanwhile, thousands of firefighters were battling five large blazes in central and northern parts of the country, with one fire in Trancoso, some 350 km northeast of Lisbon, now raging for six days.
Around 300 residents were evacuated on Friday from the village of Covanca near Piodao, an area of central Portugal popular with tourists, after a wildfire broke out on Wednesday.
Portugal has activated the EU mechanism for assistance and requested four Canadair planes, according to civil protection commander Mario Silvestre.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his ‘heartfelt condolences’ to Carlos Damaso, a former mayor of the town, who perished tackling a blaze in his district.
