Britain, France face hottest day as Europe fires rage

Britain and France went on heatwave alert on Monday facing record temperatures as southwest Europe wilted under a scorching sun and ferocious wildfires devoured more forests.

Forecasters in Britain warned of havoc in a country unprepared for the onslaught of extreme heat that authorities said was putting lives at risk.

Scientists blame climate change and predict more frequent and intense episodes of extreme weather.

For six days, armies of firefighters and a fleet of waterbombing aircraft have struggled against blazes that have mobilised much of France's entire firefighting capacity.

By early afternoon, Brest had already beaten its all-time record of 35.2 C set in 1949.

- 'Heat apocalypse' -

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

An area of nine kilometres (5.5 miles) long and eight kilometres wide was still ablaze near the Dune de Pilat, Europe's highest sand dune, turning picturesque landscapes, popular campsites and pristine beaches into a scorching mess.

"The smoke is toxic," firefighter spokesman Arnaud Mendousse told AFP. "Protecting the population is a matter of public health."

"In some southwestern areas, it will be a heat apocalypse," meteorologist Francois Gourand told AFP.

Authorities have reported around 20 wildfires still raging from the south to Galicia in the far northwest, where blazes have destroyed around 4,500 hectares of land.

- 'Get on with it' -

In Britain, the government, already on the ropes after a series of scandals and Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation, drew fresh criticism for failing to take the situation seriously enough.

The Sun tabloid headlined its coverage of the heat "British Bake Off", observing that the "scorcher" was making the UK hotter than Ibiza where, indeed, temperatures were a comparatively paltry 30C on Monday.

Britain's chief meteorologist Paul Davies said the heatwave was "entirely consistent with climate change", telling Sky News the "brutality" of the heatwave was "astounding" but could become a regular occurrence "by the end of the century".

But some in Britain, like 64-year-old plumber Dave Williams, were dismissive of the wall-to-wall coverage of the heatwave.

Among people heading to the beaches for respite was Abu Bakr, a bank worker, who also put the British heatwave into perspective.