Record heat and drought fuel Europe's fierce wildfire season

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Wind and record-breaking heat are fuelling the continent’s explosive fire season, with Spain and France among worst hit

Explainer: what is a ‘fire cloud’, and how have they worsened wildfires in Europe?

A combination of an unusually wet winter, very low rainfall since spring and repeated record-breaking summer heatwaves is likely to explain why wildfires have ignited, spread and resisted control so readily across France and Spain in recent days .

About 90% of wildfires are started by human activity, typically igniting “fine fuels” such as vegetation grass, pine needles, litter and twigs. And recent weather has almost certainly made ignition far easier. Drought in western Europe has turned this vegetation – which normally dries after only a few hours of heat and low rainfall – into tinder.

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