France and Spain wildfires force 330,000 evacuations as heatwave returns
Wildfires in France, Spain, Scotland and Wales have forced around 330,000 people to evacuate, with France and Spain facing record blazes and UK heat health alerts in place.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Wildfires across Western Europe have forced around 330,000 people to leave their homes, as France and Spain face record fire seasons and temperatures are forecast to rise again. In France, more than 220,000 people have been evacuated in the Gironde region, where firefighters are battling the country's largest wildfire in 75 years. In Spain, the largest wildfire the country has ever known is burning west of Madrid, with fires also affecting Madrid, Toledo, Avila and Valencia.
France
In Gironde, three villages were allowed to return, but new fires kept springing up. The head of the region said 14 blazes had reignited in areas that had already been extinguished. Overnight rain lasted for about an hour and dampened flames to smouldering embers, but smoke remained heavy and the fire was still there. The region was due to hit 37C tomorrow, with forecasts of 38C on Tuesday and 40C on Wednesday, plus winds of up to 40km an hour. A local fire chief said the return of the heatwave would hinder efforts and make them much more complex and arduous.
About 2,500 firefighters have been drafted in from around France, backed by volunteers, vineyard tractors, police water cannon and water-bombing aircraft. An area four times the size of Paris has been left blackened. France has already lost 115,000 hectares to fire this year, compared with 72,000 hectares in 2022, its previous worst year. President Macron visited the region and said the crisis was the most serious facing France since the Second World War. The mayor of Bordeaux said the fire was at the gates of the metropolitan area but that an evacuation of the city was not planned; the main risk to the city was toxic smoke. A makeshift evacuation centre in Bordeaux has grown from six people to nearly 7,000.
Spain
Spain's prime minister warned of difficult hours ahead and met firefighting teams north of Valencia. Almost 380,000 acres have been scorched across Madrid, Toledo and Avila, where separate fires that started last Thursday have now converged. Across Spain, 600 square miles have been destroyed this year, six times the figure at this time last year. Residents have been told through loudspeakers to leave immediately. Families have moved into schools and other shelters, with some children ill from heat and stress. Authorities had thought a blaze in Avila was contained over the weekend, but it spread again. Prolonged drought and successive heatwaves have turned the land into a tinderbox, and strong winds have carried embers that start fresh fires. Firefighters are soaking the soil before temperatures rise again.
UK and climate context
Fires are still burning in Scotland and Wales. Temperatures in England are set to soar again today and tomorrow, and heat health alerts have been upgraded to amber across parts of England. The UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, warned that climate-driven disasters are reaching nightmare proportions. Climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution has ripened conditions for fires of this scale. Scientists also point to land management issues, and to the fires creating their own weather. A fire in France generated a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, which can trigger erratic winds and lightning and make firefighting harder. Such clouds are common in parts of America and Australia but were very rare in Europe before this year, a sign of the intensity and scale of the fires.
Forecasters say the fires need heavy and sustained rain to be truly mastered, but little is expected. With heat and stronger winds returning, emergency crews are preparing for another difficult phase.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widely reported · 3 or more of 4 channels | ||||
| Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from wildfires in France and Spain. | Reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | ||
| Only on one channel | ||||
| A large wildfire in Spain near Badridge continued to burn overnight. | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by ITV | |
| Fourteen blazes reignited in areas of Gironde that had already been extinguished. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by ITV | |
| Heat health alerts were upgraded to amber across parts of England. | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | Not reported by ITV | |
| President Macron described the wildfire crisis as the most serious facing France since the Second World War. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | |
| Spain had lost 600 square miles to fires in the year to date, six times the figure at the same time last year. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | |
| The Gironde region in France was forecast to reach 37C. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by ITV | |
| UN climate chief Simon Stiell warned that climate-driven disasters were reaching extreme levels. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by ITV | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
It gave a short lunchtime round-up, leading on the combined evacuation figure for southwest France and Spain and the UK heat health alerts. It also noted fires still burning in Scotland and Wales, but offered no correspondent or eyewitness detail. The bulletin quickly moved to the Berlin attack and Brighton Pride security, so the wildfire item was brief.
- “Fires in southwest France and Spain have forced around 330,000 people to evacuate.”
- “Fires are still burning in Scotland and Wales and heat health alerts have been upgraded to amber across parts of England.”
- “A large fire in Spain, close to Badridge, has continued to burn overnight.”
It focused almost entirely on France, with a correspondent in Lège-Cap-Ferret and close-up reporting on volunteers, firefighters and an evacuation centre near Bordeaux. It framed the fires around the UN climate chief's warning and climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution. It did not cover Spain's wildfires or the UK heat alerts in this segment.
- “The UN's climate chief, Simon Stiell, has warned that climate-driven disasters are reaching nightmare proportions”
- “220,000 people have already been evacuated by the authorities.”
- “It can't be stopped, it can only be held back.”
It gave the fullest treatment, with correspondents in Bordeaux and Madrid, a wildfire risk map and a studio explainer on fire-generated weather. It stressed record burned areas, the threat from returning heat and wind, and political responses from President Macron and Spain's prime minister. It also covered Spain's human impact and the science of pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
- “France and Spain have already had their worst summer for wildfires based on areas that have gone up in flames, and August is yet to come.”
- “he described this, as you said earlier, as the most serious crisis facing France since the Second World War.”
- “Fires have already destroyed 600 square miles in Spain this year. Six times the figure for this time last year.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.