Wildfires, drought and storms hound Europe even as heatwave recedes

Firefighters backed by 30 aircraft struggled on Friday to contain a wildfire in northeastern Spain that has ripped through an area the size of San Francisco, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 people, as recent heatwaves left vegetation tinder-dry across much of Europe.

Successive early summer heatwaves, which many scientists blame on human-driven climate change, have pushed temperatures to unprecedented levels in large swathes of the continent, causing water shortages, crop damage...