Macron calls crisis meeting as wildfires threaten Bordeaux and heatwave looms

What the report says

BBC World News reports that French President Emmanuel Macron is set to convene a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday as major wildfires advance in south-west France, with the main blaze now roughly 15km from Bordeaux. Bordeaux mayor Thomas Cazenave said the city, which has a population of about 850,000, is not currently preparing an evacuation, although large-scale evacuations have already taken place in the wider region.

The BBC cited Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez as saying conditions remained highly difficult, with the fire shifting unpredictably as it moved in the direction of the city. Forecasts point to another heatwave, with temperatures in parts of France expected to reach 40C from Tuesday, raising concerns that firefighting operations could become even harder.

France’s Gironde region has been hit especially hard. The National Firefighters Federation of France said the fire has produced an unusual pyrocumulonimbus, a fire-generated thunderstorm system with its own wind and lightning. The BBC reported that about 42,000 hectares have burned in the south-west, among the largest forest fires in France since World War Two, while roughly 98,000 hectares have been scorched nationwide since the beginning of the year.

The crisis is part of a broader wave of wildfires across Europe, particularly in France and Spain. The BBC reported that more than 330,000 people have been evacuated across the two countries, including around 220,000 in south-west France. In Spain, fires have also forced major evacuations near Valencia, Madrid and Ávila, where officials warned that severe weather and slow-moving blazes continue to pose risks.