Firefighters watch as a helicopter making a drop on a wildfire in Azusa, Calif., Monday, June 20, 2016.

:: Extreme temperatures girp parts of the Northern Hemisphere as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that th planet is experencing an execptionally warm year with record-breaking temeratures in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States.

At least 60 people have been killed in forest fires in central Portugal. According to WMO, one of the factors contributing to these wildfires are high temperatures that have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.

Meteorologists also reported that the Middle East and North Africa are experiencing extremely hot weather with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius.

Extremely high temperatures also have been recorded in Spain and in France, which issued an Amber alert, the second highest alert level on Tuesday.

Firefighters battled on Monday to control a forest fire near the Donana wildlife reserve in southern Spain that forced the evacuation of 2,000 people and the removal of endangered Iberian lynx from a breeding centre on Sunday.

While a huge blaze erupted overnight in a Dutch nature reserve destroying a large swathe of vegetation with dozens of firefighters still battling to douse the flames last week.

WMO reports near record heat is also being reported in California and in the Nevada deserts, while the Russian news agency Tass reported scores of forest fires, mostly in Siberia and the far east region of Irkutsk.

In the US Southwest, flights were canceled mostly by regional airlines whose aircraft operate at a lower maximum temperature.

And in Britain, regional media in the southeast county of Surrey reported that the intense sun had melted tarmac roads.

The trend seen during the past two months has put average monthly global temperatures among the highest ever recorded since data began to be collated in 1880.

Even before this month, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data showed Europe, the United States and Northeast Asia – including eastern China, Japan and South Korea – had experienced unusually warm weather between March and May.

In China, the world’s top grain producer, hot and dry conditions in the main corn belt have delayed plantings and stunted crop development, especially in the province of Liaoning where soil moisture levels are at their lowest in at least five years.

A man drinks water on June 22, 2017 in central Milan during a hot summer-day.