Climate in Crisis

Higher humidity, cooler temperatures and slight rain raised hopes that Thursday could be a decisive day on the way to vanquishing the fire.

A prolonged drought for one of Europe’s largest rivers is setting records for low water levels, disrupting tourism and confronting residents with the realities of climate change.

The fires in France and Spain have already forced roughly 330,000 people to evacuate.

Forecasters said up to 7 inches of rain fell in some places. No deaths were immediately reported.

Warnings of dangerous conditions were expected to remain in effect through Saturday across a wide swath of the country.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires darkened skies from the Great Lakes to parts of the East Coast, prompting warnings that being outside could be hazardous.

More than 90 temperature records could be tied or broken through Wednesday.