Wildfires continue to rip through Sweden top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Heatwave conditions across Sweden have caused conditions perfect for fires to spark, drying out grass and forest floors. Temperatures have reached highs of 30C in the Scandinavian country, which is unusually hot as summer temperatures usually average 23C. Sweden had issued a plea for international help in controlling the wildfires, as the scale of the fires increased day by day. In a statement, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre said seven planes, seven helicopters, 60 vehicles and 340 firefighting staff had been offered to Sweden from Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark, Portugal and Austria. Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Boris Pistorius said: “The idea of European solidarity is of particular importance to us. And of course, we offer help and support wherever we can.” One such asset used in fighting the fires in Sweden is the Italian CL-415 Canadair “water bomber” aircraft which is designed specifically for firefighting and carries up to 6,140 litres of water. This water can then be mixed with a chemical foam if needed to help further extinguish flames. A danger Sweden faces is that the route of the fire is passing through an ex-military weapons testing range which contains unexploded artillery. Sweden: Armed Forces fighter jets drop bombs on forest fire However, as fires grow, the Swedish Air Force has taken an unusual decision to help extinguish flames. Two Gripen fighter planes have been deployed toward the front line of forest fires, carrying bombs. Their task is to drop the laser-guided bombs on the blaze, in the hopes of helping firefighters contain the spreading flames. The pressure from a bomb can extinguish a blaze, just as a strong puff of air when candles are blown out. Bombs were dropped to remove oxygen feeding the fires A Gripon fighter jet similar to this was used to drop the bombs “The oxygen from the fire can be removed with the help of a bomb and in this case, it was possible to try it, because the fire is at a firing range,” fire and rescue team leader Johan Szymanski said. Loaded with GBU-49 laser-and-GPS guided bombs, the Gripen fighters flew up to 3,000m. The target was honed in on precisely over the front of the fire, and the bombs were dropped. The bombs lock on to the target to guarantee accuracy with speeds of up to 500km/h. Sweden wildfires: Aerial pictures show wildfires rage through Sweden Wed, July 18, 2018 The fire is one of 40 wildfires in Sweden due to the dry weather and heatwave. Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 13 Aerial image shows the Forest fires burning near Ljusdal, Sweden<doc-sep>(CNN) Nearly 100 people were forced to leave their homes overnight in Sweden, emergency officials said Thursday, as dozens of forest fires rage across the country as far north as the Arctic Circle. The worst-affected areas include Jämtland, Västerbotten, Gävleborg and Dalarna counties, where residents have been advised to evacuate a number of villages. The Red Cross will start to coordinate volunteer efforts across the country, it said Thursday, after talks with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency . The volunteers will help with evacuations, distribute essential supplies and give out information. Sweden has been struggling to cope as unusually hot, dry conditions fuel more forest fires than the emergency services can handle. Thomas Aronsson, chief of operations for SITS, a specialist firefighting service based in Sweden, said Wednesday that fire services were fighting around 80 blazes and lacked the necessary equipment. "We need tankers, we need helicopters -- we don't have enough supplies," he told CNN. "There are 80 fires right now in Sweden, and there is no helicopter company or pilot in all of Sweden that's not involved in fighting these fires." Firefighters use a helicopter to tackle a forest fire Wednesday near Ljusdal in central Sweden. Smoke rising Two firefighting planes have been sent from Italy to help tackle the blazes. Footage posted Wednesday on Twitter by the Italian fire service from one of the two Canadair CL-415 aircraft showed smoke rising from a large area of forest. The plane was on its first mission, flying over Lillhardal, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of Stockholm, it said. France's civil security service tweeted it was sending three firefighting planes to Sweden on Thursday to join the effort. Norway, which is battling forest fires of its own, has also dispatched helicopters to help out its neighbor, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency said. Patrik Forsgren, who serves in Sweden's home guard, shared dramatic images on Instagram of forest fires near Ljusdal in central Sweden. "It has been very dry this spring and summer. Last weekend, it was thunder and lightning. The lightning started three forest fires," Forsgren told CNN on Thursday. "The home guard and firefighters have tried to stop the fire since Sunday. But it's not under control." The blaze now covers an area of 9,000 hectares (nearly 35 square miles), he said. Fires are also burning as far north as the Arctic Circle in Norway, Finland and far northwestern Russia, according to Copernicus , the European Union's earth observation program. Heat warning Sweden is in a dire situation with an extended period of above-average temperatures and little rainfall. After a wet autumn and winter, things changed dramatically in May, mirroring conditions across much of Europe. "It has been exceptionally dry and hot during May, June and early July," said the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute in a warning released this week that highlighted a risk of water shortages for nearly all of central and southern Sweden. The institute also warned Thursday of extremely high temperatures and a high forest fire risk for much of the country. Temperatures continue to top 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) across central and southern Sweden. The hot and dry trend is expected to continue through at least the next seven days, with no significant chance of rain or relief from temperatures, which are 5 to 10 degrees C above average. A road is closed to traffic Wednesday near Ljusdal because of forest fires. With low rainfall and higher average temperatures increasing evaporation rates, vegetation is dry and prone to fire. Record-breaking temperatures have spread all the way to the Arctic, with locations across northern Scandinavia inside the Arctic Circle reaching all-time highs. Such heatwaves are becoming increasingly common with climate change, especially in the northernmost latitudes.<doc-sep>
As blazes rage across some European countries, Sweden has employed the use of bombs to put out forest fires on Wednesday. The bombs were dropped in an area that would be too hard and dangerous for firefighters to reach. The fire that has been burning a forest in central Sweden for two weeks has reached an old military firing range that is littered with undetonated explosives, according to The Local Sweden. The pressure from a bomb being dropped into the forest is meant to literally blow the fire away from trees. The fire reaching the bomb-laden firing range proved to be the perfect time to test the theory, fire and rescue team leader Johan Szymanski said in a statement. "The oxygen from the fire can be removed with the help of a bomb, and in this case, it was possible to try it because the fire is at a firing range," Szymanski added. The Swedish Air Force sent two fighter jets to bomb the flames and initial reports claim that once the bomb exploded, it was able to extinguish fires within 100 meters of where it was dropped. Szymanski was satisfied with the result. "Our preliminary assessment right now is that this had a good effect," he said. Over the past weeks, the fires have burned around 62,000 acres. Local authorities said that temperatures have even reached above 80 degrees Fahrenheit inside the Arctic Circle in Sweden. "This is a serious situation and the risk for forest fires is extremely high in the whole country," an official told the Associated Press. Sweden has already received help from other European countries in fighting the blaze, and the European Commission has said that it will send more help to the Nordic country. Christos Stylianides, the European Union's commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management said that "The EU stands by the Swedish government and the Swedish people in their time of need." He then added, "this is solidarity in action. This is what our citizens expect in a Europe that protects." According to a press release from the EU, equipment such as planes, helicopter and vehicles, as well as firefighters, have been sent to Sweden from Italy, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark. Warsaw sent 139 firefighters and 44 vehicles to help fight the growing blaze. This is the largest group to come from all of the volunteering countries, local press reported. So far, many Swedes have had to evacuate due to the flames across the country. However, no deaths or injuries have been reported. Meanwhile, wildfires in Greece have risen a death toll to 85 and injured over 180 people thus far. Authorities pointed out that "there are serious indications of arson" in one of the blazes.