Paris (France) (AFP) - Countries across Europe were battling a wave of new wildfires Friday as blistering temperatures and tinder-dry landscapes made for dangerous conditions, with thousands evacuated and even some medieval sites threatened.

A historically hot summer on the planet’s fastest-warming continent has contributed to the deaths of thousands of people – and increased the risk of wildfires, with blazes periodically sweeping through parched landscapes.

There was to be no relief from the heat Friday, with some 150 million Europeans – particularly in France, Germany, Spain and Italy – set to experience temperatures over 35C, according to AFP calculations.

Here’s what to know.

- Croatia -

Croatian police said they had discovered a body in a burnt-out area after a wildfire surrounded the coastal town of Omis overnight.

Firefighters there were tackling “one of the worst” wildfires in the country’s history, fire chief Slavko Tucakovic said, as flames engulfed homes and injured 19 people on the coast.

Around 2,000 had been evacuated from nearby villages as the fire ripped through the surrounding hills, damaging homes and destroying cars in the early hours.

- Spain -

A fire that began Monday in Spain’s northeastern Aragon region and has forced the evacuation of 850 people so far is threatening the two monasteries of San Juan de la Pena. The oldest of the two dates back to the 10th century and is a symbol of the region.

The flames have got close to the site, which holds the remains of the first kings of the medieval kingdom of Aragon, but these as well as other artefacts have been removed as a precaution.

- Germany -

A wildfire in western Germany forced around 1,800 people to leave their homes overnight, officials said, with helicopters and army equipment deployed to help battle the flames. Witnesses describing an “alarming feeling” and “ash falling from the sky”.

Around 100 emergency service workers were also in action overnight fighting another wildfire further east near the Moehnesee lake, also in North Rhine-Westphalia.

- France -

France, which has already suffered a series of major fires this season, was facing another one in the southwest that has already forced more than 500 people to flee, officials said Friday.

The blaze has already burned 1,100 hectares (about 2,700 acres) in the department of Landes, approaching the village of Luglon.

- Montenegro and Albania -

Blazes were also burning in other parts of the Balkans as a heatwave brought soaring temperatures and worsened drought conditions.

Emergency crews in Montenegro have been battling fires along the coast for several days, while fires were reported near Albania’s capital on Thursday.

- Britain -

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the United Kingdom had to face up to climate change and speed up its move to clean energy.

Meeting firefighters in Stourbridge, where a wildfire gutted several houses a day earlier, he said: “We have to face up to the changing climate… there’s no point denying where we are. We need to face up to it. We need more clean energy.”

- Greece -

A fleet of small boats evacuated about 500 tourists from beaches in northern Greece as a forest fire threatened two popular resorts on Thursday, with hundreds of firefighters tackling the flames.

Wearing bathing costumes and many carrying children, the tourists were moved to nearby beaches, while about 200 were taken to a ship waiting at sea, officials and public broadcaster ERT said.

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