Wildfires that have been tearing through forests in France and Spain, forcing residents to flee and filling the sky with smoke, are starting to ease, but firefighters from across Europe are still battling the flames, and there are concerns that intense heatwaves raise the risk of more blazes breaking out.
In southwest France’s Gironde region and the mountainous Var department, massive fires have scorched tens of thousands of hectares before stabilising.
Officials say the country’s largest blaze since 1949 is now under control but still not fully extinguished.
In central Spain, fires that burned through tens of thousands of hectares near Madrid have eased, allowing many evacuees to return home, even as crews battle flare-ups and new hotspots in provinces including Leon and Caceres.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, and scientists warn that rising temperatures, prolonged drought and strong winds are turning southern Europe, especially France and Spain, into a far more flammable landscape, with the number of summer days featuring fire-prone conditions more than doubling since the early 1980s.
A woman caresses her pet dog at an emergency shelter set up in the Bordeaux Exhibition Centre in Bordeaux, France, for those who had to leave their homes outside town due to the raging wildfires. [Caroline Blumberg/AP Photo] Advertisement Firefighters battle a wildfire in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, west of Madrid, Spain. [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo] A De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 drops fire retardant over a forest near Saint-Jean-d'Illac, during wildfires in southwestern France. [Emma Da Silva/AP Photo] Firefighters battle a wildfire in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, west of Madrid. [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo] A house and belongings destroyed by a wildfire are photographed as the fire continues to spread near Pelayos de la Presa, Madrid province. [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo] Aesir Diaz, 31, a technician with Spain's Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades (BRIF), centre, sits next to teammates during a break from battling a wildfire in Sotillo de Adrada, Avila province, Spain. [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo] Advertisement A bicycle lies charred on the ground at a campsite after wildfires raged in Lege-Cap-Ferret, outside Bordeaux, France. [Emma Da Silva/AP Photo] Moha Haddad tries to put out a fire at his home as a wildfire continues to spread near Navas del Rey, Avila province, Spain. [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo] Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France. [Emma Da Silva/AP Photo] A man works to extinguish hot spots in an area burned by a wildfire near Casavieja, Avila province, Spain. [Olmo Calvo/AP Photo] A house destroyed by a wildfire near Almorox, Toledo province, Spain. [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo] Firefighting vehicles line a road to suppress fires near Ares during wildfires in southwestern France. [Baz Ratner/Pool/AP Photo] A firefighter walks through a charred forest near Blagon during wildfires in southwestern France. [Baz Ratner/AP Photo] A campsite's bungalows are charred after it was ravaged by a wildfire in Pelayos de la Presa, Madrid province, Spain. [Manu Fernandez/AP Photo]
