{"text":[[{"start":8.25,"text":"At least 12 people have died and 19 are missing in a wildfire in southern Spain as a heatwave across Europe sparks alarm about a summer of dangerous blazes.The government of Andalusia confirmed the overnight death toll in a wooded area of the province of Almería on Friday, describing the fire as “very complex, very fast”."}],[{"start":29.95,"text":"It said that four of the victims appeared to be from the UK, as the steering wheel of the vehicle in which they perished was on the right side."}],[{"start":37.45,"text":"The deaths came as Europe grapples with the consequences of a series of sustained heatwaves that have already led directly or indirectly to thousands of deaths, including via exposure to extreme temperatures and drowning."}],[{"start":50.800000000000004,"text":"Europe’s third heatwave of the summer this week pushed temperatures once again to 40C in Spain and France, after western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, according to the EU Earth-observation agency Copernicus. "}],[{"start":64.85000000000001,"text":"Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed “deep sadness and devastation” over the disaster and said the central government’s emergency services were joining the fight against the blaze."}],[{"start":77.35000000000001,"text":"Antonio Sanz, the Andalusian official in charge of emergency management, said the fire spread “at an extremely high rate” through Los Gallardos, describing it as an area with “a great many scattered properties nestled within woodland”.Other victims appeared to have abandoned their vehicles in a bid to escape the fire on foot and “the consequences were terrible”, Sanz said."}],[{"start":98.85000000000001,"text":"In addition to the fatalities, he said four people had sustained serious burns and another four had less grave injuries."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":106.35000000000001,"text":"Western and central Europe was experiencing widespread dryness that, together with extreme heat, had contributed to the wildfire activity, Copernicus said this week, particularly in the Iberian peninsula and southern France. "}],[{"start":119.65,"text":"The increasingly dry soils had heightened the drought conditions that had taken hold since May in western and central Europe, with the drought risk rising also in parts of eastern Europe, with river flows below average."}],[{"start":132.05,"text":"“June 2026 underscored how profoundly the climate is changing. Western Europe recorded its warmest June on record and continued record warmth in the global ocean. Together, these records reflect a climate system continuing to accumulate heat,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus."}],[{"start":150.60000000000002,"text":"Europe is warming at twice the global average, in part because of its proximity to the Arctic where the melt of ice and snow has exposed the darker ground which absorbs more of the sun’s rays."}],[{"start":161.70000000000002,"text":"Wildfires across Spain and Portugal last summer contributed to a record 200,000 hectares burnt across the continent in fast-moving fires, triggering the deployment of the largest EU cross-border firefighting force."}],[{"start":174.95000000000002,"text":"The Sánchez government this year brought forward the start of an annual fire-prevention campaign to January from June and added new planes, helicopters, drones and all-terrain vehicles to its firefighting force."}],[{"start":188.55,"text":"The EU said this year 800 firefighters would be positioned strategically across the bloc to support countries across which fires spread."}],[{"start":null,"text":"![](\"https://dq4atoxl7csa1.cloudfront.net/unsafe/2400x0/https://d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net/production/f11fc730-2356-47e2-b285-555f505a5f0a.jpg\")