Child, 4, dies on Italy holiday as heatwave sweeps Europe sparking wildfires

A young boy has died from heatstroke in Italy amid a deadly European heatwave as wildfires in Spain threaten a UNESCO site and French cities hit record temperatures.

The four-year-old Romanian boy was on holiday with his parents in Olmedo in the northwest of Sardinia. It is thought that the child left the house they were staying at before they realised he was missing earlier today.

His devastated parents found him unconscious in the family car, and he was then airlifted to hospital in Rome but sadly died of irreversible brain damage, the hospital confirmed. It comes after heatwave forecast with maps revealed the exact date a 39C heat plume will scorch the UK.

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The scorching summer this year is causing havoc across the continent, with Italy issuing a red alert warning for seven cities, including Bologna and Florence. Almost 200 firefighters are tackling a fire on Mount Vesuvius as its national park was to closed to the public.

Spain has also been forced to endure a heatwave over the past week as temperatures hit close to 40C. On Sunday, a wildfire damaged a UNESCO Roman-era mining site at Les Medulas in the north west of the country and forced hundreds of residents to evacuate.

Winds of up to 25mph caused "many difficulties" for firefighters attempting to contain the blaze, according to Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones, the Castile and Leon regional environment minister. He added: "We will not allow people to return until safety in their communities is absolutely guaranteed." Four people, including two firefighters, suffered minor injuries in the fires.

While in the southern town of Tarifa, more than 2,000 people were evacuated, including from hotels and beaches, when a fire flared up again after it was thought to be contained on Friday. Elsewhere on the Iberian peninsula, firefighters battled three massive wildfires in the centre of Portugal, including near Trancoso.

It is understood that Morocco is sending a couple of planes to help tackle the blaze after two Portuguese aircrafts broke down. Meanwhile in France, a woman died last Tuesday in the densely wooded Aude region, where the fire broke out in the village of Ribaute.

Around 1,800 firefighters were deployed and 1,500 of them worked through the night to hold the flames back. Record temperatures have also been set in at least four weather stations in southern France as the country's second heatwave of the year began.

Bordeaux reached an all-time high of 41.6C as records were also broken in Bergerac, Cognac and Saint Girons, according to Meteo France. A total of 12 French departments issued a red alert on Monday, the country's highest heat warning, and four more are expected on Tuesday.

In Albania, almost 40 fires were sparked in the past day alone as firefighters and soldiers have been fighting to put them out. The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) estimated that almost 84,000 acres have been scorched across the Balkan country since the beginning of July.

Police have claimed that many were caused by arson and more than 20 people have been arrested in connection with them over the past few weeks. Just outside Montenegro's capital of Podgorica, dozens of homes were saved by firefighters after a blaze broke out on inaccessible terrain, as temperatures hit 40C.

In nearby Croatia, approximately 150 firefighters spent all night protecting homes from a fire near the port city of Split. While Turkey is experiencing its hottest July since records began 55 years ago.

In the northwestern province of Canakkale, more than 2,000 people were evacuated and 77 people needed hospital treatment for smoke inhalation following multiple fires around the tourist village of Guzelyali. At least 760 firefighters were dispatched to combat the blazes.

Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the meteorology department in the University of Reading, told AFP: "The heatwave currently affecting France, Spain, and the Balkan countries is not surprising. It is driven by a persistent heat dome over Europe. Heatwaves don't roar like storms - they creep in quietly, but can be just as deadly."