* Britain on a state of 'national emergency'
* Germany, Belgium brace for potentially record-breaking temperatures
* More than 30 wildfires ravage parts of Spain
By Kylie MacLellan and Emma Pinedo
LONDON/MADRID, July 19 (Reuters) - Britain was forecast to see temperatures hit 40C (104F) for the first time on Tuesday after logging its warmest night on record, while wildfires raged across parched countryside in France, Spain and elsewhere.
As a heatwave that settled over southern Europe last week edged northwards, southern and western Germany and Belgium were also braced for potentially record-breaking temperatures, with many scientists pointing the finger of blame at climate change.
While the mercury dipped back towards more normal summer levels in Spain and Portugal, firefighters in both countries were still battling multiple blazes.
Britain has been put on a state of "national emergency" alert as temperatures looked set to surpass the previous record of 38.7C recorded in 2019, with the extreme heat disrupting travel as some trains were forced to stop running and flights were cancelled.
"We've seen a considerable amount of travel disruption," Transport Minister Grant Shapps told the BBC.
"We're probably going to see the hottest day ever in the UK recorded today, and infrastructure, much of which was built from the Victorian times, just wasn't built to withstand this type of temperature."
A study published by climate scientists in June in the journal "Environmental Research: Climate" concluded it was highly probable that climate change was making heatwaves worse.
With human-caused climate change triggering droughts, the number of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 30% within the next 28 years, according to a February 2022 U.N. report.
FLAMES AND SMOKE
More than 30 wildfires continued to ravage parts of Spain, with authorities paying special attention to four blazes in Castile and Leon and Galicia.
In Losacio, in northwestern Zamora province, where two people have died and three people were critically injured, more than 6,000 people in 32 villages have been evacuated.
Dramatic TV footage showed flames and plumes of smoke billowing into the night sky near the Zamora town of Tabara.
On Monday, a man trying to protect his town from wildfire had a close brush with death when the blaze engulfed his digger, forcing him to run for his life while patting out flames on his clothes.
In Galicia, more than 1,500 people have been evacuated from the path of four fires, with several buildings damaged.