Fires can ignite old munitions and also burn away the scrub and brush that hides them. Droughts across Europe have also been churning up military vehicles and weapons from the era, with shrinking rivers revealing German warships, a Wehrmacht motorbike, and a bomb. Key points and original sources are listed below.

• Fires can ignite old munitions and also burn away the scrub and brush that hides them.S1

• Droughts across Europe have also been churning up military vehicles and weapons from the era, with shrinking rivers revealing German warships, a Wehrmacht motorbike, and a bomb.S2

• Members of a bomb disposal unit sit next to 1.8 ton World War II bomb after defusing it in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2017 (Picture: AP) Emergency crews battling wildfires across Europe have exposed a potentially deadly threat lurking beneath the scorched surface...S3