Wildfires rage across Europe

STORY: Wildfires continued to rage across Europe on Thursday (July 14).

In Croatia authorities deployed firefighting aircraft and dozens of firefighters and soldiers to try to contain three major wildfires along the country's Adriatic coast.

And thousands of people were evacuated in Turkey's southwestern Datca peninsula, as firefighters battled to contain blazes fanned by strong winds that spread to residential areas overnight.

Countries including France and Portugal - suffering from a second heatwave in as many months - have been hit by a series of wildfires over the last few weeks.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe.

Elsewhere in Europe, thousands of firefighters battled more than 20 blazes that raged on Wednesday (July 13) across Portugal and western Spain, menacing villages and disrupting tourists' holidays amid a heatwave that pushed temperatures above 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius ) in some parts of the region.

Meanwhile on the Greek island of Samos - two people died on Wednesday after a helicopter fighting a forest fire crashed into the sea - a Greek coast guard official said.

Greece is also plagued by wildfires every year due to hot and dry weather conditions.

The European Union is sending some 200 firefighters from various countries in Europe to assist the country throughout the summer.

With human-caused climate change triggering droughts, the number of extreme wildfires was expected to increase 30% within the next 28 years, that's according to a February 2022 U.N. report.