African heat does not spare Serbia

And Serbia, surrounded by four sides of land borders, is no exception. About 250km south of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, is the agricultural area of Alexandrovo.

Instead of seeing the ordinary activities of farmers at this time, the view is quite different. The earth has been scorched by the sun, its crops hard to survive, as smoke columns rise in the air from fires and in surrounding forests.

Everyone in this area says they've never experienced such weather. The remaining miniature corn is the result of extreme weather peaking.

Those few remaining plants are attacked by hungry birds, leaving behind almost nothing. According to farmers, corn has been hit harder, and wheat has been followed.

High temperatures dramatically increased the fear of devastating fires, something common and often seen by residents during these last summers.

To deal with these emergencies, Serbia and Russia five years ago established a humanitarian centre in Nis. During the summer season, Russian firemen's planes and helicopters stay at a local airport in order to intervene quickly.