France on alert as forest fires rage in scorching southwest Europe

Forecasters have put 15 French departments on the highest state of alert for extreme temperatures as neighbouring Britain was poised to set new heat records this coming week.

The heatwave is the second to engulf parts of southwest Europe in weeks, and blazes burning in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain have destroyed thousands of hectares of land and forced thousands of residents and holidaymakers to flee.

Scientists blame climate change and predict more frequent and intense episodes of extreme weather such as heatwaves and drought.

In France's Landes forest, in the southwest Aquitaine region, temperatures "will be above 42 degrees Celsius" (107 Fahrenheit) on Monday forecaster Olivier Proust said.

And Brittany, which until recently has escaped the worst of the heat, could register temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius, (104 Fahrenheit), say experts, which would be a record for the region.

In the southwestern Gironde region, firefighters over the weekend continued to fight to control forest blazes that have devoured nearly 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) since Tuesday.

Meanwhile Spanish authorities reported around 20 wildfires still raging out of control in different parts of the country from the south to Galicia in the far northwest, where blazes have destroyed around 4,500 hectares of land.

The fires have already killed several civilians and emergency personnel since last week, most recently a fireman who died late on Sunday while battling a blaze in northwestern Spain.