Flames visible from motorway in France, as heatwave grips Europe

Flames engulfed trees beside a motorway in France on Friday (July 26), as a heatwave continues to grip Europe. Soaring temperatures broke records in France, Britain and the Netherlands on Thursday (July 25), in what scientists said were becoming more frequent events as the planet heats up. Earlier on Friday farmers were ordered to stop harvesting in France's second-largest grain-producing department Oise after hundreds of hectares of fields caught fire during an intense heatwave. Local authorities put an indefinite suspension on threshing in the whole of the Oise department on Thursday, citing the risk of fires and risk to the local population. More than 500 hectares of land caught fire on Tuesday alone in the department. Several firemen were hurt while trying to put out the fires.