Firefighters from across Europe came to France’s rescue on Friday to battle a massive wildfire, while parts of England faced a severe drought, as successive heatwaves on the continent renewed the focus on climate change risks.

Much of Europe has faced weeks of baking temperatures that have led to large wildfires, are depleting water levels of the Rhine river in Germany and have seen the source of Britain’s Thames river dry up further downstream than in previous years.

Firefighters from Germany, Romania, Greece and beyond were on the ground to help France battle the fire in the region — home to Bordeaux wine — as well as on other fronts, including in Brittany in the northwest.

France’s European counterparts also sent two more water-bombing aircraft, on top of the four they already lent to the firefighting efforts in the country.

The risk of new fires is “very severe” considering the weather conditions, the Gironde prefecture said. Further north, in Britain, the heatwave also hit hard, with the government formally declaring parts of southern, central and eastern England in drought after a period of hot and dry weather.

England suffered its driest July since 1935, with only 35 per cent of the average rainfall for the month.