The recent weeks around the world in pictures

1. Brasparts, France

Trees and vegetation burn amid a fire in the Monts d’Arree in Brasparts, Brittany. Forecasters put 15 departments in France on the highest state of alert for extreme temperatures, including Gironde in the south-west, where wildfires have already wrought havoc. It comes as firefighters battled to contain blazes across south-west Europe as a heatwave showed no sign of abating

Photograph: Rachel Le Guillou/SDIS 29/Reuters

2. Pallini, Greece

Firefighter Panagiotis Haratsis tackles a wildfire in the north-east suburb of Pallini near Athens. Raging wildfires continued to burn this week in Athens, with firefighters engaged in a desperate battle to control flames that were fanned by gale-force winds. Firefighters in Portugal, Spain, France, Greece and Morocco were battling forest fires raging across tens of thousands of hectares as this week’s heatwave continued to bring extreme temperatures and cause hundreds of deaths across south-western Europe Photograph: Kostas Tsironis/EPA

3.  Sheffield

Firefighters contain a wildfire that encroached on nearby homes in the Shiregreen area of Sheffield. Major incidents were declared by fire services across the country after the hottest day in the UK since records began Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

4.  Arcachon, France

People swim on the Moulleau’s beach as smoke rises from a forest fire in La Teste-de Buch. Meteorologists have warned of a ‘heat apocalypse’ in western France as more than 8,500 people fled their homes to escape a large wildfire sparked by a searing southern European heatwave that has already caused hundreds of deaths Photograph: Thibaud Moritz/AFP/Getty Images

5.  Weipa, Australia

A small wildfire burns at Bouchat near Weipa in far North Queensland. Severe storms and widespread flooding across eastern Australia and elevated fire risks in the Northern Territory are predicted for the coming months, with a third successive La Niña weather pattern also likely

Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

6. Yosemite

Yosemite’s Oak fire is burning with ferocity. The raging Oak fire burning near Yosemite national park  forced more than 3,000 people to evacuate and exploded to 17,000 acres seemingly overnight.