For weeks, the southern countries of Europe have been suffering from drought and heat. A heat wave with highs of up to 40 degrees is now approaching Germany in the coming days. On Sunday, a lot of sun spread across the country, the German Weather Service (DWD) announced on Saturday.

Only in the north of Germany denser clouds could pass through. According to the meteorologists, the highest temperatures will be reached in the southwest. There they are to climb to 25 to 31 degrees. In the north and east, the highs will be between 20 and 24 degrees. In the night to Monday, it will cool down to 16 to 8 degrees.

The week starts sunny with loose veil clouds. According to the DWD, temperatures will rise to 29 to 34 degrees on Monday, while it is expected to reach 36 degrees in the west and southwest. The coasts, however, were spared from the heat. In these regions, meteorologists expect 20 to 25 degrees.

On Tuesday, the DWD expects the preliminary peak of the heat wave. In the southwest and west, the 40-degree mark may be cracked. In the northeast, the maximum values are between 30 and 34 degrees. In the night to Wednesday, showers could move into the far west and southwest, individual thunderstorms are not excluded.

Meanwhile, heat and fires continue to have parts of western and southern Europe firmly in their grip: In France, Spain and Portugal, firefighters continued to battle several forest fires on Saturday. In southwestern France alone, the fires have destroyed more than 9,000 hectares of forest since Tuesday, according to authorities, and around 12,000 people have had to be brought to safety so far.

Near the Dune de Pilat near Bordeaux, Europe's highest shifting sand dune, there were new fires near the beach, according to the mayor of the small resort of Teste-de-Buch. In the region of the municipality itself, firefighters said they were able to contain the flames but were not yet able to bring them under control.

Further inland, near the municipality of Landiras, the situation remained tense. There, according to the prefecture, the flames destroyed a thousand more hectares since Friday evening alone. However, the prosecutor's office suspects arson as the cause.

In the northern Italian Adriatic resort of Bibione, several tourists had to flee into the sea because of a forest fire, where they were rescued by the Coast Guard. The fire in the area popular with German holidaymakers broke out on Friday afternoon, according to media reports.

Whether Germans were among those rescued, the Coast Guard could not confirm on Saturday when asked initially. Several fire departments and also a firefighting helicopter fought against the flames on the border between the regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. On Saturday, the operation continued.

Meanwhile, the forest fire that has been raging since Friday on the vacation island of Crete, south of the port city of Rethymno, was brought under control on Saturday morning. The Greek fire department announced that the battle against the flames had been fought throughout the night. Six villages were evacuated. Although the fire came close to the settlements, no houses were damaged, said the mayor of the municipality, Agios Vasilios, on Saturday the station Skai.

At last count, 110 firefighters with 33 firefighting platoons were on duty in the region. At daybreak, five firefighting helicopters also resumed their work. The stormy winds in the region were problematic, constantly reigniting and driving the flames

Meanwhile, the number of deaths in Spain due to the heat wave rose to 360, including the death of a 60-year-old municipal cleaning worker at work on Saturday as a result of the heat, the Catalan daily La Vanguardia reported.

The Maghreb is also severely affected by the consequences of the heat: In Morocco, one person has now died in forest fires. Hundreds of residents of the northern regions, meanwhile, have been rescued from the flames from several villages, the TV station Al-Jazeera reported Saturday.

The forest fires have been raging for days near the coastal town of Larache, among other places, Moroccan news portal Hespress reported. Hundreds of hectares of forest have already fallen victim to the flames, it said. Morocco is currently experiencing high temperatures of more than 40 degrees. According to media reports, drought and strong winds had favored the spread of the fires.

Photo by Jared Rice