Devastating European wildfires in maps - and how they're being tackled

What the report says

BBC World News reports that major wildfires are burning across France and Spain after a summer of intense European heat, with more than 300,000 people forced to leave their homes. In France, the broadcaster says the total area burned this year has already exceeded any annual figure recorded in the country this century, while officials in Madrid have described the fires there as the worst in the region’s history.

One of the hardest-hit zones is Gironde, near Bordeaux in southwest France. According to the BBC, a fire there has burned more than 162 square miles, or 420 square kilometres, in under four days — about four times the size of Paris — and has come within 15km of southern Bordeaux. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated in the area. The fire has also approached sensitive military and industrial sites linked to missile work, rocket motors and hazardous chemical processing.

Firefighters in France are using aircraft carrying retardant and water-bombing planes, including Canadairs that can scoop thousands of litres of water from lakes or the sea. Around Gironde, the BBC reports that roughly 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 military personnel and 1,200 police and gendarmes have been deployed. Crews have also cut wide firebreaks near Lacanau to remove vegetation before flames arrive.

The BBC says extreme fire behaviour, including a fire-generated thunderstorm, is making suppression more difficult. It also notes that hotter, drier conditions linked to climate change can help fires spread faster and burn more intensely. Forecasts for more dry, hot weather are raising concern that conditions could deteriorate further.