Firefighters in France and Spain raced to contain some of the worst wildfires in recent memory on Tuesday, seeking to gain control before another wave of extreme heat sweeps across western Europe.
The blazes have scorched vast areas of woodland in both countries, destroying homes and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents and tourists.
Near the French winemaking capital of Bordeaux, a major wildfire generated a rare pyrocumulonimbus cloud — a towering formation created by intense heat that can produce strong winds and lightning.
In the surrounding Gironde region, tractors equipped with plough blades, pickup trucks towing water tanks and logging vehicles joined convoys of fire engines battling the blaze.
"We want to help... I want nature to stay like it is," said 25-year-old farmer and wood transporter Christopher Bonnefond.
Fresh heat threatens firefighting efforts
Meteorologists forecast another heatwave across western Europe, with temperatures expected to surge in France from Tuesday and in Spain from Wednesday.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the coming hours would be "absolutely decisive" in efforts to contain fires burning west of Madrid.
In France, firefighters focused on the blaze near Bordeaux, saying it had not spread overnight despite several flare-ups.
President Emmanuel Macron, who visited a crisis centre in Bordeaux on Monday, warned that the difficult conditions were far from over.
"The coming weeks will be tough and we have to hold out," he said.
Over the past six days, the Bordeaux-area wildfire has burned through 42,000 hectares, forced 220,000 people to flee and destroyed 240 homes.
The Gironde prefecture said emergency crews remained on full alert ahead of another day of soaring temperatures and falling humidity, describing the situation as "highly unpredictable."
Thousands displaced as fires spread
Macron said a smaller wildfire in the neighbouring Landes region had been contained after forcing more than 30,000 people to evacuate.
However, he warned the fire remained active and urged continued caution in the coming days.
"This is due to the conditions of climate change in which we will live," Macron said.
The Landes fire burned 500 hectares within 24 hours, according to the local fire service. Authorities said around 15,000 evacuees had been allowed to return home by Monday evening.
In Spain, wildfires west of Madrid have forced about 60,000 people to evacuate.
At an emergency shelter outside the capital, displaced residents rested on camp beds, comforted pets and waited anxiously for news of their homes.
Maria Angeles Canete fought back tears as she described returning to the ruins of her campsite near Navaluenga.
"We lost everything," she said. "We had this campsite, we had another one, and we've lost it all. We have nothing."
EU reinforces response as climate concerns grow
The European Union announced on Monday that it was deploying additional water-bombing aircraft to France, adding to those already assisting Spain.
But EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib warned the bloc's firefighting fleet was under increasing strain as extreme fire conditions spread across Europe.
"Extreme conditions are looming for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, in addition to France and the Iberian Peninsula, where the situation is expected to worsen, including in Portugal starting today," Lahbib told AFP.
The destruction has been extensive in the hardest-hit parts of Spain, where AFP reporters saw charred forests, blackened tree trunks and burned-out homes and vehicles.
"You run to save what you can and then you turn to defend," said Karim Benali, a volunteer firefighter near Navaluenga.
Spain has seen about 77,000 hectares of land destroyed by wildfires, while David Sanchez, who returned to his home in Cebreros after evacuating at the weekend, found his olive and pistachio grove reduced to ash.
"Now it's time to clean up and plant again... and the fire has flared up again down there," he said.
Since the start of the year, wildfires have burned around 150,000 hectares in Spain and 115,000 hectares in France.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has described the fires as "the most painful expression of a climate emergency."
Spain's weather agency AEMET said another heatwave would begin on Wednesday and last until the end of the week, with temperatures expected to reach 42°C in the northeast and 39°C in central parts of the country.
France's national weather service, Meteo-France, also forecast temperatures of up to 40°C from Tuesday, accompanied by dry winds expected to worsen fire conditions.
