PARIS/ISLAMABAD: As bodies are still being recovered from the areas ravaged by flash floods in Buner, Pakistan, an AFP analysis of European Drought Observatory (EDO) data on Monday showed that more than half of Europe and the Mediterranean basin was affected by drought in the first ten days of August.
Read more: Third-hottest July generates heatwaves, floods, droughts
The 51.3 per cent figure is the highest level registered for the period of August 1-10 since data collection began in 2012.
Around half of the area has been affected by drought since mid-April 2025, a situation worse than the severe drought of the summer of 2022, AFP said.
These contrasting developments are enough to show how climate change is changing the world — perhaps for forever — which is affecting every aspect of life — from lifestyle to livelihood.
Read more: Climate change batters agriculture. Hungary is an example
MONSOON DISASTER
Meanwhile, Pakistan is now bracing for possible riverine floods amid very heavy rains in the catchment areas of eastern rivers, while the Met Office has warned of more rains in the coming days in the country too.
Read more: India shared flood warning through diplomatic channels, not IWT: FO
Heavy monsoon rains and flash floods have killed at least 739 people across Pakistan since late June, displacing thousands and destroying homes and crops, with more severe weather expected in the weeks ahead, according to UN agencies and national authorities.
HEATWAVES AND WILDFIRES
The report about drought comes as nearly 1,000 firefighters remained mobilised Monday in central Portugal to prevent flare-ups of what authorities said was the biggest forest fire the country has seen — ravaging an area more than 10 times bigger than Manhattan island.
And in neighbouring Spain, authorities said just over a dozen serious wildfires were still burning in the country, as foreign assistance winds down and cooler temperatures are forecast.
The civil protection service said there were 14 active wildfires classified as operation level two, meaning they pose a danger to people and property, down from 18 on Saturday and 21 last week.
Four people have died during the wildfires that have hit Spain this month, destroying large areas of land.
It is the record-high temperatures due to multiple heatwaves and drought that is fuelling wildfires from Turkiye in the east to Portugal in the west.
Europe has been witnessing rising temperatures at a rate not visible in any other continent.
Last week, it was reported that wildfires have so far ravaged more than one million hectares (2.5 million acres) in the European Union in 2025, a record since statistics began in 2006.