WWF warns of worsening ‘superfires’ across Europe

Global conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warned on Thursday of the risks from new faster-spreading "superfires" in the wake of heatwaves and droughts that have been afflicting Europe in what many see as a symptom of climate change.

Although the Mediterranean is the area most affected by wildfires, traditionally wetter northern European countries have recently also struggled with huge forest blazes.

An average of 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) of forest burn every year in Europe, European data show.

The report, released by WWF Spain, said the fires cost the continent an estimated 3 billion euros ($3.38 billion) annually.

Between 2017 and 2018, hard-to-extinguish superfires that were fanned by strong winds and phenomena such as updraft killed 225 people in Portugal, Greece and Spain, and are expected to worsen due to an inadequate allocation...