In brief | 4 July '25

Ember: Heat and power: Impacts of the 2025 heatwave in Europe

Heatwaves push up daily power demand by up to 14% as thermal plants are hit by outages.

Euronews: Wildfires in eastern Germany injure two firefighters and force villages to evacuate

Parts of the wildfires are on a former military training area where there is a risk of ammunition detonating.

The Guardian: Crete wildfire forces 5,000 to evacuate as Europe heatwave continues

Fire on island being fanned by gale-force winds, with blazes also raging on mainland Greece.

AP: Spanish wildfire kills 2 people as parts of Europe bake in severe heat wave

“Wildfires today are not like they were before,” said Salvador Illa, the regional president of Catalonia.

Montel: France’s nuclear safety authority clears 20 nuclear power units to run past 40 years

Green light for extending reactors' runtime removes key hurdle to prolonging lifetime of EDF's existing fleet. 

Politico: Von der Leyen lends an ear to German industry (again) as climate and trade crunches loom

“Flexibility” and “pragmatism” the most cited words during meeting with Commission president's compatriots.

ZEW: Fossil fuel subsidies are detrimental to prosperity, public finances and the climate

Reducing subsidies could lead to greater prosperity despite resulting increase in energy prices, researchers find.