Europe wildfires: more than 300,000 flee homes and holiday accommodation as fires rage

Wildfires are raging across parts of France and Spain, forcing more than 300,000 people to evacuate their homes and holiday accommodations. The blazes have destroyed houses and triggered one of the largest civilian evacuations in peacetime France, with major fires still active in both countries.

In southwestern France, approximately 220,000 people have been evacuated from the main forest fire threatening the city of Bordeaux. Evacuations have extended to villages surrounding Bordeaux, and 60 kilometers (37 miles) of the A63 highway, a crucial route from Bordeaux to the Spanish border, has been closed. Regional authorities are managing the crisis, which has displaced tens of thousands more from other wildfires across France and central Spain.

Firefighters are working intensely to control the fires. In France, a rare "pyro cumulonimbus" cloud, which creates its own winds, has complicated efforts, making the blaze "erratic and unmanageable," according to Captain Nicolas Braz of the Gironde fire service.

Authorities in Spain have ordered new evacuations near Toledo, southwest of Madrid, as the fires continue to spread. One fatality has been reported in eastern Spain. Families have sought refuge in emergency shelters, sleeping on camp beds in exhibition halls and gymnasiums, uncertain about the fate of their homes as walls of smoke and flames swept through forests and tourist areas.

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the blaze generated a rare “pyro cumulonimbus” cloud, creating its own winds and whirlwinds and making it “erratic and unmanageable”.