Wildfires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares (390,000 acres), the European Forest Fire Information System suggests, an areas roughly as big as metropolitan London.

The U.S. government deployed more than 200 emergency workers to Puerto Rico as a precaution after a flood watch was issued for the entire U.S. territory.

Spain is fighting 14 major fires, while almost 4,000 firefighters in Portugal are battling blazes and Greece's Fire Service is on alert outside Athens.

Officials halted rescue operations overnight but rescued at least 300 people Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides in India-controlled Kashmir.

Firefighters were stretched thin in many affected countries as they battled multiple outbreaks following weeks of heat waves and temperature spikes across the Mediterranean.

The earthquake, with an epicenter in the town of Sindirgi, sent shocks that were felt some 200 kilometers away in Istanbul, a city of more than 16 million people.

Premier Li Qiang said the heavy rain and flooding in the hard-hit Beijing district of Miyun caused “serious casualties” and called for rescue efforts.

Numerous flood warnings and evacuations have been issued in multiple cities and regions, including Beijing, amid heavy rains that have triggered a landslide in one county.

The flash flood that tore through central on Friday is a grim example of why flash floods are the nation’s deadliest weather hazard, killing at least 24 and leaving many missing.

At least eight people have died as a heat wave hits parts of Europe, with two dead in France, two in Italy and four in Spain, according to officials.

Europe is heating up at twice the global average speed and is the world's fastest-warming continent, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service has said.

Severe heat was recorded in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal before the weekend, with locals and tourists alike taking shelter from the sweltering conditions.

The major storm threatens to unleash destructive winds near where the eye crashes ashore, flash floods and a dangerous storm surge, forecasters said.

There's an 80 per cent chance the world will break another annual temperature record in the next five years, top weather forecasters say.

Extreme weather conditions — including hurricane-force winds — are forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people.