Officials point to ultra-dry conditions as death toll reaches 26 and fires threaten Unesco heritage sites

Authorities in South Korea are battling wildfires that have doubled in size in a day in the country’s worst ever natural fire disaster.

At least 26 people have died and hundreds of buildings destroyed in the south-eastern province of North Gyeongsang, with the country’s disaster chief saying the fires had exposed the “harsh reality” of global heating.