Europe wildfires latest: France has 24 hours to control fires before 40C heatwave that could worsen crisis

Wildfires in Europe have displaced around 300,000 people this week

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French firefighters have just 24 hours to control a rapidly spreading wildfire before a 40C heatwave sweeps the southwest of the country, bringing hot and dry weather that could exacerbate the blaze.

More than 360,000 people have been evacuated across and France and Spain due to wildfires as Europe bakes in one of the hottest summers on record.

Authorities warned that the fires raging just 15km outside the city of Bordeaux could last for months, with crews from all over the country forced to rotate in to extinguish the blaze.

According to forecaster La Chaîne Météo, a new “powerful” heatwave will hit France on Wednesday.

With temperatures set to peak at 40C on the Atlantic coast in the afternoon, the new heatwave warning gives firefighters just a 24-hour window to control the blaze.

Philippe de Gonneville, the mayor of Lege-Cap-Ferret, said: “We need to be conscious that the war is not over and we still have challenges to face over the coming days.”

Climate data shows Europe is heating faster than anywhere else on earth. The continent has already faced extreme heat events multiple times this year.

As firefighters continue to tackle a major blaze in the country’s east, ordnance from the Spanish civil war may pose complications.

Fire chief of the Valencian Regional Government, Chevi Bolumar, has cautioned that the ordnance could explode when the ‌flames reach the area.

Spanish authorities discovered and destroyed 36 explosive devices from that era in the Castellon province in 2024, according to the latest available data.

France’s economy minister, Roland Lescure, has confirmed that over 13,000 businesses in Gironde have had to evacuate their premises amid the wildfires.

During a press briefing on Monday, Mr Lescure reassured businesses impacted by the situation: “We are there for them.”

In the meantime, the wildfires continue to put business operations in the region on hold.

As firefighters continue to tackle flames approaching Bordeaux, the interior ministry has begun to assess the costs of fixing the damage.

The government has estimated it will cost €5,000 for every 10,000 hectares restored.

With 115,000 hectares of land estimated to have been scorched by fires so far this year, and 42,000 hectares being burnt by the fire in Gironde this week, this now means the economy is facing re-forestry costs in the hundreds of millions.

More than 360,000 people have been evacuated in wildfires across France and Spain as flames continued to spread across Europe.

Over 250,000 people have been evacuated in France including the entirety of the Cap-Ferret peninsula and several suburbs outside of Bordeaux.

In Spain, more than 116,000 people were forced to leave their homes, authorities said.

"It looked like the apocalypse. You couldn't see anything. Everything was covered in ash," Rocio Dominguez, who evacuated from Chapineria, west of Madrid, told AP.

"We don't know when we get to the town, if we'll have half the house burned down or we'll have it intact or we won't have a house,” she said.

"All the clothes, all the memories, everything."

Ms Dominguez is one of more than 116,000 people in the country have now been evacuated due to the outbreak of wildfires.

The government is preparing for wildfires in the UK similar to those that have torn through France and Spain this summer, a minister has confirmed.

Blazes have wrought destruction in mainland Europe this week, with 220,000 forced out of their homes in southwest France and 116,000 evacuated in Spain .

Around 42,000 hectares have been burnt in southwest France , in one of the largest forest fires since the Second World War. Since the start of the year, about 98,000 hectares have been scorched. Meanwhile, in Spain , around 70,000 hectares have burned this year.

The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

As wildfires continue to rage across southern France, Météo-France has forecasted another heatwave is set to hit the country in the week ahead.

Temperatures predicted to return to mid-to high 30s on Tuesday, and peak near 40C in the southwest regions on Wednesday.

High temperatures often result in dry conditions that can increase the likelihood of wildfires.

The news comes after France recorded 5,764 excess heat-related deaths during the country’s last heatwave, which lasted between June 17 and July 2.

Experts have weighed in on the reasons why the ongoing fires are proving so difficult to control.

“We have entered an era of fires that cannot be extinguished,” Víctor Resco de Dios, Lecturer of Forestry Engineering and Global Change, University of Lleida and researcher at Agrotecnio, told the Science Media Centre.

“These are fires that burn with the intensity of several atomic bombs and, as such, putting them out is extremely complex.

“They burn with such intensity because of all the energy stored in the hills, in the form of biomass, and because of all the drying energy in the atmosphere, resulting from the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels.

“Added to this are adverse weather and topographical conditions.”

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