With wildfires raging in France and Spain, fire crews race against next heat wave
Wildfires have swept across large parts of France and Spain, forcing more than 330,000 people to flee their homes in what French President Emmanuel Macron described as "a completely unprecedented fire" and the country's worst such crisis since the Second World War. The blazes, fuelled by successive heatwaves that have left forests tinder-dry, matter both for the scale of displacement and because forecasters warn a fresh heatwave is set to intensify conditions further, raising the risk of the fires spreading or reigniting.
In southwest France, near Bordeaux and the Gironde region, two fires forced around 250,000 evacuations and burned an area four times the size of Paris. In Spain, roughly 79,000 people were evacuated and a further 30,000 confined to their homes, with a record blaze near Ávila scorching 500 square kilometres, five times the area of Barcelona; Spain has now burned 1,530 square kilometres so far this year, six times the total for the same period in 2025. Thousands of firefighters, backed by water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, earth-moving equipment and help from around a dozen countries, are battling the flames as temperatures are forecast to climb above 35°C in France and past 40°C in Spain during the country's fourth heatwave of the year.
In short
- Wildfires force over 330,000 evacuations across France and Spain.
- Macron calls it France's worst fire crisis since WWII.
- New heatwave threatens to worsen already dry, burning forests.
Explained simply
Wildfires have swept across France and Spain over recent weeks, forcing over 330,000 people to evacuate their homes. The fires have been driven by repeated heatwaves that have left forests exceptionally dry and prone to burning.
The scale of destruction has been striking. In southwest France near Bordeaux, fires have displaced around 250,000 people and destroyed an area four times the size of Paris. In Spain, roughly 79,000 people have been evacuated and a fire near the city of Ávila has burned an area five times as large as Barcelona.
Firefighters from a dozen countries are battling the blazes with water-dropping aircraft and equipment. However, a fresh threat looms: forecasts warn that another heatwave is approaching, with temperatures set to climb above 35°C in France and past 40°C in Spain, which could intensify the existing fires or spark new ones.
Europe Government Politics World