Much of Europe is seeing high temperatures as August begins and some nations are feeling the effects worse than others.
In Rome, a large wildfire burned through the natural reserve of Monte Mario on Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters were seen dropping water from helicopters onto the fire in the hilly area, while many residents were evacuated as the flames approached nearby buildings.
The location of the fires was not far from the Rome-based studios of the Italian public television RAI in Teulada street, and just 2.5 kilometres from Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
In Albania, wildfires continued to burn on Wednesday.
While they came close to homes in the southern village of Mashkullore, they caused no significant damage.
In the coastal town of Shengjin, though, the picture was more serious.
Hundreds of Albanian firefighters, military personnel and volunteers managed to get a major fire under control after it damaged a roof and two beach bars, sending visitors fleeing in panic.
An Albanian army Cougar helicopter and two Italian Canadair planes, part of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, helped spare the beach town from the flames.
In neighbouring North Macedonia, a major fire raged east of Sveti Nikola.
An army helicopter and the three Air Tractor planes were engaged to stop the fire.
In the remote village of Kokoshinje, between Sveti Nikole and Probistip, an elderly man died from smoke inhalation, after the village was affected by fire; Firefighters were able to save his wife.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski assured the public that there are sufficient firefighters and members of the Army and Ministry of the Interior to manage the fires, despite them being at a historic peak. Just yesterday, 66 active outdoor fires were reported, 40 of which were successfully extinguished.
Serbia lent two helicopters to North Macedonia to help tackle the serious forest fire that is spreading near the Prohor Pcinjski monastery, on the border between the two countries.
