Wildfires in France and Spain have forced more than 260,000 people to leave their homes as blazes spread amid severe heat and dry conditions. The scale of the evacuations has strained emergency services and prompted both countries to seek wider European assistance, underlining the growing disruption caused by major summer fires.

Around 70,000 people were evacuated in central Spain, while large fires affected areas near Madrid and Bordeaux, including France’s Gironde and Landes departments. Spain declared a national wildfire emergency for the first time, while France deployed firefighters, soldiers and aircraft; other European countries provided or prepared firefighting aircraft and helicopters. EU satellite data indicated that the area burnt across member states so far this year was among the largest on record.