Paris — A heat wave gripping parts of Europe sent temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (109.4 Fahrenheit) in southern France and the Western Balkans on Monday, fueling wildfires, triggering top-level weather alerts and forcing evacuations in several countries across what scientists warn is the world’s fastest-warming continent.

The culture wars have come for air conditioning, at least in France. Amid the latest heat wave, feelings about air conditioning became a political litmus test.

Fires burned in France’s Aude wine region, along Bulgaria’s southern borders, near Montenegro’s capital and coast, and in Turkey’s northwest — and Hungary recorded record-breaking weekend temperatures.