The region’s atmospheric monitoring service on Tuesday warned that the searing heatwave in Europe is generating high levels of harmful ozone pollution, adding that large areas of western Europe also face “extreme” danger of wildfires.

Record temperatures, which scientists say are driven by climate change, are predicted in France and Britain on Tuesday as suffocating heat that has gripped southwest Europe and sparked ferocious wildfires moves northwards.

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In a statement from the Copernicus monitoring service, the authorities said, “Tinder dry conditions and extreme heat are exacerbating the risk of wildfires.”

The organisation’s emergency management service has warned that a large proportion of western Europe is in “extreme fire danger” with some areas of “very extreme fire danger”.

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The heatwave is also causing high levels of ground-level ozone, Copernicus said.

Unlike the protective layer in the upper atmosphere, this is a major greenhouse gas and component of urban smog that harms human health and inhibits photosynthesis in plants.

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“The potential impacts of very high ozone pollution on human health can be considerable both in terms of respiratory and cardio-vascular illness,” said Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.

Ozone is formed as emissions from fossil fuels and other man-made pollutants react in the presence of sunlight and Copernicus said cutting emissions of these pollutants is “crucial”.

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Meanwhile, scientists have detected “extremely high surface ozone pollution” across western and southern Europe. They also found it particularly over the Iberian Peninsula and parts of northern Italy.

Daily maximum levels of surface ozone, which normally peaks during the middle of the day, reached unhealthy levels in Portugal, Spain and Italy.

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Scientists now warn that, while the situation is likely to ease across the Iberian Peninsula, very high surface ozone levels are now being seen in areas of northern and western parts of the continent as temperatures rise.

The ozone levels in these regions are forecast to peak in the next few days, before easing.