There is continuing coverage of the wildfires sweeping across southern Europe, with the Guardian reporting that thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, “amid warnings of ‘powder-keg’ conditions after a record-breaking early summer heatwave”. It adds that hundreds of firefighters are tackling blazes across almost 20,000 hectares (49,500 acres) in Portugal, Spain, France and Greece, with strong winds and high temperatures expected over the next week. Reuters reports that an “out-of-control” wildfire has forced over 10,000 people to evacuate in southern France, near the Spanish border. The Associated Press reports that international reinforcements have now been sent to Portugal, as a “massive fire” has been burning for over three days. Le Monde interviews researcher Julien Ruffault, who says: “Never before have 11,000 hectares burned this early in the summer in southern France in at least the past 20 years”. He goes on to argue that land-use policies will be crucial to adapting to fire seasons, as they become “more intense, longer and more extreme as a result of global warming”.

Bloomberg reports that a “high-pressure weather system is set to bring heatwave conditions this week to France, southern England and the Iberian Peninsula”, marking the summer’s third major heatwave. Le Monde reports that France is facing temperatures of 38C, possibly even 40C, in the southwest as the latest heatwave arrives. It adds that the latest heatwave is driven by a high-pressure system, “exacerbated by climate change caused by human greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). Global warming has made heatwaves more frequent, more intense and longer in duration.”

MORE ON EUROPE

• Reuters reports that the French government has survived a no-confidence vote over its handling of the heatwave in June, after a motion said the government failed to do enough to blunt the effects of the extreme weather.
• Al Jazeera reports that the French heatwave is exposing inequalities, with analysts warning that the government’s response is insufficient to protect people living in low-income areas.
• Euractiv reports that Spain and Portugal “want more EU cash for electricity links to France”.
• Deutsche Welle looks at the impact of heatwaves on the risk of blackouts.

The Times reports that sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars have overtaken petrol-only motors, “as more motorists embrace the decarbonisation agenda”. The Independent covers the new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which show registrations of electric cars jumped 35% in June, pushing their market share from 24.8% a year ago to 30% now. Reuters notes that the 30% figure is broadly in line with data published by New Automotive last week. It adds that “EV sales have been supported by ​higher fuel prices following the Iran war, a wider choice of ​lower-cost models, government grants and manufacturer discounts”. [See Carbon Brief’s recent analysis: “Analysis: UK sales of electric vehicles just overtook petrol cars for the first time.”]

Relatedly, the i newspaper reports that prime minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has been “urged” to speed up the transition to EVs, as well as technologies such as heat pumps. It adds that new analysis from SSE Energy suggests this transition could cut household bills by £500. 

MORE ON UK

• The Guardian reports that “record temperatures fuelled by the climate crisis left 86% of homes ‘too hot’ and many people feeling unwell” in June. 
• The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph covers a report from trade association Make UK that warns “soaring energy bills that risk triggering factory shutdowns and job losses”.
• The Daily Telegraph covers the opening of the latest round of the “contracts for difference” subsidy auction. 
• The Guardian reports that a hedge fund run by a GB News co-owner Paul Marshall has almost tripled its investments in fossil fuels in the first quarter of 2026.
• The Daily Express reports that children have missed over seven million school days due to heatwaves causing schools to close.
• The Daily Telegraph reports that former prime minister Tony Blair’s thinktank has urged prime minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham to “tear up Labour’s flagship 2030 net-zero target”.

Bloomberg reports that Cuba’s electricity grid totally collapsed on Monday, “as the nation struggles with crumbling infrastructure and a de-facto US oil blockade that has pushed the communist-run island to the brink”. Reuters reports that the grid operator, UNE, said it was continuing to provide electricity to some vital services, but by the late afternoon could only cover around 1% of the capital Havana’s electricity demand. The Daily Telegraph adds that this is the eighth time the nation’s 9.6 million residents have been left without power since 2024.

The Times reports that one of the fastest artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers in the UK is still offline following June’s record-breaking heatwave. It adds that Dawn, the supercomputer owned by the University of Cambridge, is used by scientists including climate researchers, such as the British Antarctic Survey, who use it to look at changes in sea ice. The article continues that a Cambridge spokesperson cited “technical issues during the hot weather” as the reason for the shutdown. It notes: “Scientists previously warned that extreme weather exacerbated by climate change – including more intense heatwaves – posed a risk to supercomputers.”

MORE ON AI

• The Guardian reports that developers of a “landmark AI” project in Scotland have “misrepresented its plans to channel a nuclear reactor’s worth of power to a site”.
• Politico’s E&E News reports that the US Energy Information Administration has nearly tripled its prediction for new gas power plant capacity by 2030, due to Donald Trump’s energy policy and the rise of AI. 
• The Guardian covers warnings from experts that AI tools are “twisting online messages on sensitive political topics about everything from abortion to climate change in ways that could snowball to reshape long-term public opinion”. 

Four people have died and eight are missing due to heavy flooding in Hengzhou, a city in China’s southwestern Guangxi province, reports China Energy News, adding that “water levels at 70 monitoring stations along 55 rivers in Guangxi” remained above flood warning levels. Multiple reservoirs in Guangxi saw breaches and flooding on Monday, forcing hundreds of people to be moved to higher ground, as Typhoon Maysak battered the region, reports the Hong Kong-based news outlet the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Reuters also covers the story, saying that China faces “growing threats from extreme weather, which meteorologists link to climate change”. State news agency Xinhua reports 77 rivers in the Pearl River basin have seen floodwaters exceed warning levels, while 40 rivers recorded their highest floods since records began. Chinese authorities said they expect two to three typhoons to make landfall in July, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Meanwhile, “two tornadoes ​wrought devastation in central China’s Hubei province”, reports Reuters, with at least eight people dead. It notes that “tornadoes are extremely rare in Hubei”, adding that climate change is increasing China’s risk of extreme weather.

MORE ON CHINA

• China’s State Council has called for improving the unified electricity market and strengthening cross-provincial and regional electricity trading, reports BJX News.
• China’s new five-year plan for its meteorological development calls for conducting “climate impact assessments and risk projections for key industries” to strengthen climate change response, says BJX News.
• China Environment News publishes an article under the byline Zhong Huanping, which signals approval from the environment ministry, saying that the new plan for building a “Beautiful China” provides a “clearer roadmap and blueprint”.
• The foreign ministry has said air-con exports to Europe demonstrate that China-EU trade is “driven by market demand”, reports Xinhua. Chinese air-con units are a “lifeline for European households facing growing climate shocks”, argues a comment by Xinhua. 
• The CCTV-affiliated WeChat blog Yuyuan Tantian says that China’s response to energy security risks is to focus on domestically controlled systems, such as new energy power systems, rather than stockpiling more oil.
• Chinese researchers have found that China is “not in a leading position in mastering key core technologies in certain fields”, reports the SCMP. China has opened trading in lithium carbonate futures to overseas traders, in a move to “strengthen China’s influence over global lithium pricing”, reports Jiemian.

Shaun Martin, vice president for adaptation and resilience at the World Wildlife Fund US, argues in Climate Home News that we need to “urgently” build up resilience to more extreme weather and rising sea levels. He points to the World Meteorological Organization’s recent forecast that a powerful El Niño will develop this year, potentially becoming one of the strongest on record. He writes: “This warning should make one thing crystal clear: we need to move faster to adapt to the rapidly changing climate.” Martin continues to discuss the likely impacts of El Niño, as well as “pragmatic preparations”, urging an approach to adaptation that is rooted in nature. He concludes: “The problem is not that we have ignored climate change. It is that we have misjudged its timeline. These hazards are no longer a future risk to be avoided…we need to adapt or perish, now as ever.”

MORE IN COMMENT

• In Reuters, columnist Gavin Maguire argues that “killing” subsidies for wind and solar power will drive up energy bills across the US. 
• In Al Jazeera, Azzam Abu-Rayash, an assistant professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, writes that, as the World Cup continues, “football’s biggest tournament should fund a serious plan to measure, reduce and account for its emissions”.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Molly Lempriere, with contributions from Henry Zhang and Anika Patel. It was edited by Leo Hickman.

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