Europe's hot and dry summer takes its toll with fires in France and Greece, and drought in the U.K.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A record-breaking hot and dry summer tightened its grip on Europe Monday, as water-dropping planes swooped over a major wildfire in Greece, firefighters in France sought to stabilize a blaze in Provence, and much of the U.K. recorded its driest July in nearly two centuries.Wildfires west of Athens jumped containment lines, a day after a midair collision between two helicopters killed two crew members.A Greek and a Danish national died and two others were hospitalized in the helicopter collision. All four were private operators chartered by the Greek firefighting service.In France, firefighters in the region around Bordeaux guarded against potential flare-ups inside a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris.A prolonged heat wave and lack of rainfall led to the driest July in England and Wales in nearly 200 years of recordkeeping, according to provisional statistics, the U.K.’s weather service said Monday.All of Wales and more than half of England are officially in drought, the Met Office said.

The dry spell was accompanied by sweltering temperatures across much of the U.K., following heat waves in May and June.Wales tied its record for its warmest mean temperature for July while England and the U.K. recorded their second-warmest July.Athens area remains at high risk with hundreds evacuatedStrong winds returned to southern Greece late Monday, pushing flames into mountain home clusters, destroying farms and property, and closing a highway.Areas surrounding Athens remain at high risk through the week with temperatures set to rise further. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from around the seaside resort of Porto Germeno and other areas west of the capital – including more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area.“This is a difficult fire that has troubled us,” Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said, adding that 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters were operating in the area Monday.The blaze was blamed on a faulty power line from a wind farm and led to the arrests of two contractors on charges of negligent arson.Despite improved detection methods and expanded cooperation among European Union members, Greece and other countries along Europe's Mediterranean coast suffer devastating wildfires every summer as spells of heat wave temperatures grow longer.Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating …

recorded its driest July in nearly two centuries.Strong winds eased in Greece, allowing firefighting flights to resume, a day after a midair collision between two helicopters killed two crew members.A Greek and a Danish national died and two others were hospitalized in the helicopter collision. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the region, including more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area.Strong winds eased Monday, allowing the deployment of 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters around the fire-hit Greek seaside resort of Porto Germeno where multiple evacuations have been ordered.“To put it in a headline: conditions are better but we are pressing forward because there are still multiple points of activity,” Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said. “This is a difficult fire that has troubled us.”The blaze was blamed on a faulty power line from a wind farm and led to the arrests of two contractors on charges of negligent arson.Despite improved detection methods and an expanded cooperation among European Un…

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A prolonged heat wave and lack of rainfall led to the driest July in England and Wales in nearly two centuries of record-keeping, according to provisional statistics, the U.K.’s weather service said Monday .All of Wales and more than half of England are officially in drought, the Met Office said.The dry spell was accompanied with sweltering temperatures across much of the U.K., following heat waves in May and June.Wales tied its record for its warmest mean temperature for July while England and the U.K. recorded their second-warmest July.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Water-dropping planes swooped over a major wildfire west of Athens Monday as strong winds eased, a day after a midair collision between two firefighting helicopters killed two crew members.Gales at the weekend hampered firefighting efforts along mountainous and coastal areas while also allowing flames to spread more rapidly, but authorities said Monday the situation was improving.A Greek and a Danish national died and two others were hospitalized in the helicopter collision.