UK papers: 'Summer of chaos' and 'water bosses' pay rises'

Pictures of tourists on a beach in France, with a huge cloud of black smoke from wildfires burning in the distance, are on several front pages. "Europe ablaze" says the FT Weekend, external. "Summer of chaos" is the Daily Mirror's headline, external. It says thousands of British holidaymakers are facing huge queues to travel to mainland Europe, while fires rage.

The Times says, external it's seen a report which says the UK is at a greater risk of blackouts because of the drive towards renewable energy. The paper says in the era of fossil fuel power plants, the national grid operator could easily monitor its output and balance demand and supply, minute by minute - but that's become much more difficult with the emergence of wind farms, solar panels and batteries. One whistleblower claims the grid operator is now "flying blind."

On its front page the Daily Telegraph says, external Iran is sending its operatives to the UK in migrant boats. The paper says Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps controls some of the people smuggling routes across Europe. An unnamed Iranian official says the regime could easily make London unsafe if it wanted to. The Home Office has been approached for comment.

According to FT Weekend, external, the new Chancellor, John Healey, is under mounting pressure to raise taxes or find savings, because the government's fiscal buffer has been eroded to a "razor thin level". The paper says renewed fighting in the Middle East has increased the cost of government borrowing, while Andy Burnham has made new spending commitments with measures to support households and small businesses.

An investigation by the Daily Mail, external has found that some parents are being financially crippled, or driven to suicide, because of "massively inflated" child maintenance charges. The paper says "appalling blunders" by the Child Maintenance Service have led to people being overcharged several thousand pounds a month; some have lost their homes and at least two fathers have taken their own lives. The agency denies having significant issues with its IT system.

And the Sun says, external Madonna is in talks to play a record three consecutive nights at BST Hyde Park in London next summer. If she does, the paper says, around 210,000 people are expected to attend, but sources close to her say nothing has been decided.