A ferocious wildfire in south-west France's Gironde region has forced roughly 250,000 people from their homes, with flames advancing on the edges of Bordeaux. A further 55,000 residents were evacuated overnight on Sunday alone, adding to the 220,000 already displaced from that region, while shifting winds and dry conditions have made the blaze increasingly hard to contain. Neighbouring Spain has also had to evacuate residents from wildfires on its eastern coast, and Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for those affected during his Sunday Angelus address.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described conditions as "very unfavourable" after fires generated their own winds and advanced unpredictably towards Bordeaux, though he said things had calmed somewhat by morning. An estimated 42,000 hectares have burned, an area seven times the size of Manhattan, destroying hundreds of homes. Some 2,500 firefighters, backed by 18 aircraft, soldiers and local farmers supplying water, are battling the blaze around the clock, with 75 firefighters injured so far; officials warn that forecast high temperatures from Tuesday could worsen the situation, and the fire has on several occasions turned into a rare self-feeding firestorm capable of generating its own lightning.