Emergency services battling to stop a reservoir dam in central England from collapsing brought in new pumps Saturday to reduce the water levels, as more storms were forecast.

As experts gather in Geneva to finalise the most detailed scientific assessment yet of how we use the land we live off, one phenomenon to which we all contribute will be under close scrutiny: food waste. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called in the army to fight forest fires that have been raging across vast expanses of Siberia for days, enveloping entire cities in black smoke.

These days whenever Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appears in public, he removes his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, grabs a shovel and gets to planting a tree.

Gigantic forest fires have regularly raged through the vast expanses of Russia's Siberia, but the magnitude of this year's blazes has reached an exceptional level with fears of a long-term impact on the environment.

As fires sweep across millions of hectares enveloping entire cities in black smoke and noxious fumes, environmentalists warn of a disaster threatening to accelerate the melting of the Arctic. 

Freak storms and flash flooding following last week's heatwave in Italy claimed three lives this weekend, including a young woman caught up in a mini-tornado near Rome's Fiumicino airport.

Belgian meteorologists registered a record high temperature for the country on Thursday when western Europe sweltered under a heatwave that has severely disrupted transport.

Poor forest management and firefighting techniques make Portugal especially vulnerable to wildfires as climate change makes hotter, longer summers more likely, experts warned as the latest blazes struck this week.

Hot, hotter, hottest! Paris, London and places across Europe are bracing for record temperatures Thursday as the second heat wave this summer bakes the continent.

Climate scientists warn this could become the new normal in many parts of the world. But temperate Europe — where air conditioning is rare — isn't equipped for the temperatures frying the region this week.

Greenpeace activists on Wednesday briefly blocked incoming British prime minister Boris Johnson's convoy as it made its way to Buckingham Palace, urging him to take action on climate change.