PICTURES

A combination of drought and a heatwave in California had left tinder dry and highly combustible.

Migrants and refugees are rushing to enter Hungary before new emergency immigration laws come into force.

People have made their homes in decommissioned planes abandoned in a field in Bangkok.

Masses fall sick due to thick smoke from wildfires made by illegal land clearing in Indonesia.

Organisers hoped to attract at least 500,000 people for a pro-independence rally in Barcelona.

The waters are retreating in Joso after washing houses away in scenes reminiscent of a tsunami.

In the former Soviet Union, bus stops were often an excuse for designers to try out their most outlandish ideas.

Thousands of refugees and migrants spent the night sleeping in the open in torrential rain.

The Kinugawa River burst its banks after Tropical Storm Etau brought two months of rain in just 48 hours.

The Queen boarded a steam train and opened Scottish Borders railway on the day she took the reign record.

After perilous sea voyages from Turkey refugees are stranded on the Greek island for days or weeks.

The dirtiest of all the Spanish festivals is Cascamorras, in Baza, near Granada.

Photographers travel with refugees as they flee war in Syria and head towards safety in the European Union.

The mother of a toddler killed in a West Bank firebomb attack believed to have been carried out by Jewish extremists has died.

Thousands of farmers protest over low milk prices outside EU headquarters in Brussels.

On 9 September Queen Elizabeth II will surpass her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria's reign of 63 years and 216 days.

Queen Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning monarch in British history on Wednesday 9 September.

Many of the migrants and refugees on the train had left the overcrowded asylum detention centre just days before.

Photos of this year's Burning Man, a huge alternative festival in Nevada's Black Rock desert.

China staged a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops to mark the occasion.

Matt Cardy photographed some of the signs held by refugees prevented from boarding trains in Budapest.

Thousands of refugees fleeing the war in Syria arrive in Greece every day. This is their story.

Hungarian authorities closed its main train station, then reopened it but barred entry to refugees and migrants.

Wrestling Komodo dragons, a shark-repellent surfboard and a concerned gorilla are among the finalists in Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015.

Photos illustrating Britain's history of welcoming refugees fleeing conflicts around the world.

The third-strongest hurricane ever in the US made a direct hit on New Orleans on 29 August 2005.

Two tragedies show the desperate plight of migrants seeking refuge from war and poverty.

Hindu pilgrims have been cleansing their sins at the Kumbh Mela (Pitcher Festival) for more than 2,000 years.

Hundreds of Colombians wade through river with fridges, mattresses and bed on their backs.