Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband will make his first European trip since taking the role, visiting France and Spain on Wednesday as both countries battle devastating wildfires. The visit aims to show UK solidarity while pressing the case that the fires underscore the wider climate emergency requiring coordinated international action, alongside a broader push to strengthen ties with the EU.

In Paris, Miliband will meet French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to discuss European security, support for Ukraine, Middle East peace efforts and migration cooperation, before travelling to Madrid for talks with Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares covering the UK-EU Gibraltar treaty and security collaboration. The wildfires have forced more than 360,000 people to flee across the two countries, with France ordering a further 4,000 evacuations near Bordeaux amid a renewed heatwave that President Macron said posed France's toughest challenge since the Second World War, with the crisis expected to persist until at least Sunday.