Main Points
- France is experiencing wildfires on an “unprecedented” scale, the office of president Emmanuel Macron has said, after convening an emergency meeting on the fires
- France says the wildfire that forced 220,000 people to flee in the region around Bordeaux has stopped growing
- France and Spain’s weather services have warned a new heatwave starting this week will further increase fire risk
- In Spain, prime minister Pedro Sánchez blamed climate change for “exponentially” increasing the risk of wildfires
- Authorities in Spain have evacuated over 90,000 people while 30,000 have been confined to their homes as firefighters battle massive blazes in the regions of Madrid, Ávila, and Toledo
- Wildfires could burn until November in Europe, say EU officials
Key Reads
- What is a ‘fire cloud’, and how have they worsened wildfires in Europe?
- Why Europe’s wildfires are proving so fierce and difficult to stop
- Irish in Europe: have you been impacted by wildfires? Share your story
Wildfires could burn until November, say EU officials
EU officials have said wildfires could still be burning until early November in what threatens to be a record-breaking year for the area of land burned.
Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said Monday and Tuesday were “absolutely crucial days” before temperatures rise again from Wednesday onwards.
Speaking after an emergency meeting of the French government on Monday, France’s interior minister Laurent Nuñez described this year’s wildfires as “completely exceptional”. More than 116,000 hectares of forest and vegetation have been burned since January, far exceeding the 70,000 hectares reported for the whole of 2025.
Spain’s government said the 172,000 hectares of forested land burned this year was six times greater than the equivalent figure for 2025.
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, told a climate conference the wildfires were not isolated incidents. “It is the most painful manifestation of a climate emergency that is making … wildfires more voracious and heatwaves more frequent, and as a result our land more vulnerable,” he said. “It is no longer an exception. It is the rule.”
The European Commission’s lead official on the green transition, Teresa Ribera, said Europe was not prepared for the consequences of climate change. In an interview with El País she said the commission would propose an adaptation strategy in October that would be much more comprehensive than policies implemented so far.
A series of heatwaves, including record-breaking temperatures in June, which scientists say would have been impossible without the climate crisis, has left parched soils and tinder-dry vegetation that have fuelled this summer’s fires.
A European Commission official said the wildfire season had begun in April and could last until early November. Officials also stressed the rising risks for fighting wildfires from the middle of the week in France, Spain and Greece.
The EU executive has coordinated the despatch of seven planes and four helicopters to France, as well as six planes and three forest firefighting teams to Spain, after the countries triggered the bloc’s emergency assistance mechanism. EU officials have also been sent to the Bordeaux region to assist local authorities.
Officials stressed the unprecedented nature of recent fires, which have spread rapidly over large areas. A commission official said that a recent fire in southern Spain that killed 13 people had reached speeds of 6km/h, while firefighters are only able to react to fires moving 300 metres an hour or less.
The scale of Europe’s wildfires has raised questions about the continent’s ability to respond. Italy is among about 10 European countries that have sent firefighting equipment or teams to France and Spain, while grappling with its own blazes.
Firefighters fought to extinguish a major wildfire in the southern region of Puglia on Monday. More than 400 people, many of them tourists staying in campsites set among pine forests, were evacuated by sea from the Gargano peninsula on Sunday as the blaze, fanned by strong winds, encroached on beaches.
A further 58 people were evacuated from their homes in Maratea as a wildfire swept through neighbouring Basilicata. - Guardian
Swathes of Cairngorms in Scotland unrecognisable after 12 days of ‘cataclysmic’ wildfires
Twelve days on from the start of an enormous wildfire that is tearing through moorland and forest, the Cairngorms national park in the Scottish Highlands is unrecognisable.
Hectares of blackened land were visible as low cloud cleared on Sunday, with smoke billowing into the air from large areas still ablaze. In the evening, the sky glowed an eerie orange.
Authorities have warned the danger is far from over in what has been described as the worst fire the Cairngorms has ever seen. It will be weeks, if not months, before the blaze is fully extinguished but emergency services are hoping they can stop it spreading much further. The damage so far has been significant and it will take decades to put right.
Flames have claimed areas of the Caledonian pinewood forest, which contains Scots pine trees 300 years old, but most of the older forest has been saved by fire breaks urgently bulldozed into the land in the early days of the fire.
“For rare habitat loss, it really is a challenge,” says Ian Allsopp, the Forestry and Land Scotland planning manager for the north region, saying larger animals, such as deer, would have escaped but smaller mammals, lizards, insects and ground-nesting birds would have perished.
Grant Moir, the chief executive of the Cairngorms national park, told the Guardian it was the worst fire the park had seen. “The fact that this is right in the centre of the Cairngorms, in the actual Cairngorm mountains and Abernethy – it is such a precious place,” he says.
It is still unknown what caused this fire but the vast majority of UK wildfires have a human origin and can be something as small as a discarded cigarette or abandoned glass bottle.
Police Scotland said on Saturday night it was no longer treating the fire as a major incident. However, anxiety is still high, particularly among local people who were told it was “contained” last week, only for strong winds to fan the flames, leading to the evacuation of Nethy Bridge village on Friday night. Residents have been told they can return home.
“It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” says Sandy McCook, a retired press photographer from the village. “The flames on Friday were cataclysmic.”
He is angry too. Many locals feel the fire could have been prevented. McCook showed the Guardian a photo he took of the wildfire when it was only the size of a tennis court.
“Had we had a helicopter there on government contract to deal with such incidents, that fire could have been dealt with within two hours of it being reported,” he says. He wants to see a model similar to the Scottish air ambulance.
Three private helicopters have been contracted to provide assistance in the Cairngorms, depositing approximately 750,000 litres of water a day on wildfire hotspots, something that is essential to getting the blaze under control. - Guardian
France says wildfire that forced 220,000 people to flee has stopped growing
France’s interior minister Laurent Nunez has said the wildfire in the south-west of the country had stopped growing, a first glimmer of hope since the inferno forced 220,000 people to flee in the region around the city of Bordeaux.
But with woodlands still smouldering, the minister cautioned that the battle is not yet won.
He spoke after French president Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting focused on the blaze in the Gironde region and wildfires that fire crews continue to tackle elsewhere.
Macron did not immediately comment on Monday after the meeting.
The Gironde prefecture said the situation overnight remained “globally stable” – a change from previous days when officials said flames had crept to within 15km of the outskirts of Bordeaux and generated self-feeding firestorms with lightning bolts that ignited more blazes.
No new evacuations were announced on Monday.
But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, Gironde authorities worked to keep tourists away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities.
Nunez also urged people to avoid the region, popular for its Atlantic beaches and some of France’s largest woodlands.
In the adjacent south-western Landes region, where hundreds of firefighters have been making progress against another virulent but smaller fire, the prefecture said some rain fell overnight and described the conditions as “favourable” for firefighting but also cautioned that they could change.
With thousands of firefighters on the ground and rotations of water- and retardant-dropping aircraft in the air, it has become a race against time before a forecast surge in temperatures from Tuesday that could make fighting flames more difficult.
Spain warns of ‘extreme’ danger of further fires
Spain’s weather service Aemet has warned that a new heatwave will begin on Wednesday and last into next week, with temperatures as high as 42 degrees forecast in various parts of the country.
“The fire danger level will continue to rise to extreme levels, hindering firefighting efforts, due to high temperatures, locally gusty southerly winds, and generally low humidity,” Aemet warned.
It said the expected temperatures posed “significant or even extraordinary level of danger” during daytime peaks, “especially for outdoor activities and vulnerable individuals” and that nights would also be warm.
Weather forecasters warn risk of further fires is rising
The risk of further forest fires is rising as France’s fourth heatwave closes in, national weather service Meteo France warned in its latest update.
“The new heatwave and drought conditions are gradually raising forest fire danger levels across the country this week,” the weather service warned.
A new heatwave is expected to take hold from Tuesday in France, with temperatures of over 40 degrees expected, particularly in southwestern France which has already been badly affected by forest fires.
“The return of dry and very hot weather in the coming days is leading to a further increase in the risk of forest fires,” Meteo France said.
Spanish wildfire toll six times greater this year than in 2025
How bad are these year’s wildfires? New figures released by Spain’s ministry for ecological transition give us an idea.
Wildfires have burned up over 172,000 hectares so far in 2026. That’s more than six times the amount that burned in the same period last year.
Three major ongoing fires in Madrid, Toledo and Ávila are primarily responsible for the increase. The Ávila fire is the worst on record and is responsible for burning 50,000 hectares.
Ongoing fires in various parts of Spain will add further to the toll.
France is facing ‘unprecedented’ situation, says Macron’s office
France is experiencing wildfires on an “unprecedented” scale and has recorded 13,550 separate blazes since the start of the season, the office of President Emmanuel Macron said after convening an emergency meeting of ministers.
Fires have burnt 116,000 so far this year, far surpassing previous years.
An ongoing blaze in the Gironde region is of “exceptional magnitude” and has already burnt down or damaged 277 buildings, according to the Élysée Palace.
Since July 6th, 162 people have been arrested during investigations into the causes of fires, and five people have already received prison sentences.
The meeting highlighted extremely dry conditions in France, with “widespread” soil drought and increasingly common instances of rivers running dry.
“Weather conditions remain conducive to fires starting and spreading rapidly. The authorities are calling on everyone to exercise the utmost vigilance, to comply with the bans in force and to report any fire immediately,” the statement from the Élysée said.
Macron is expected to travel to the badly-affected Gironde region later on Monday to speak to emergency responders.
Climate emergency is ‘exponentially’ worsening wildfires, warns Spanish PM
Climate change is dramatically increasing the spread and ferocity of wildfires, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has said in a visit to an emergency response centre in the fire-hit municipality of Castellón.
“What is certain is that the climate emergency and the systematic increase in temperatures we are seeing each year, is exponentially increasing the extent and intensity of the wildfires,” Sánchez said in the address in the region of Valencia.
He warned against the spread of disinformation on social media, and urged people to take maximum precautions as the country prepares to enter a new heatwave this week.
Camera captures rapid spread of fire outside Madrid
A security camera mounted on a roof captured the rapid spread of a fire in the mountains outside Madrid in a video that is being widely-shared by Spanish media.
The video shows flames appearing in the distance and rapidly spreading to overcome a property in the span of just eight minutes.
Fire situation in Cap Ferret remains “extremely concerning”
The situation in the popular tourist destination of Cap Ferret on the southwestern coast of France remains “extremely concerning”, according to the latest update by local authorities.
The situation is “stable” but conditions are “deteriorating” as firefighters continue to respond to wildfire flare-ups, according to an announcement by the municipality of Lège-Cap Ferret.
Officials ordered the evacuation of the entire Cap Ferret peninsula in recent days, with over 40,000 people fleeing as flames threatened to cut off the only road in and out.
Municipal authorities in the area, long a popular retreat for French A-listers, said firefighters were working to create firebreaks to prevent flames reaching homes and infrastructure.
Over 55,000 people affected by Madrid wildfire
More than 55,000 people in the Madrid region have either been evacuated or ordered to shelter in their homes as 300 firefighters and eight aircraft battle a huge wildfire to the west of the Spanish capital.
President of the Madrid regional government Isabel Díaz Ayuso said that the fire had burned 28,000 hectares of land, which forced the closure of 13 roads and the evacuation of multiple elderly residence homes.
The region has set up 18 centres to receive evacuated people.
The firefighters “are risking their lives” to fight the blaze, Díaz said in a social media post. “We have no words to express our gratitude.”
France braces for a fourth heatwave
A fourth heatwave is forecast to take hold in France from Tuesday, with peak temperatures as high as 42 degrees in parts of the country.
The combination of extreme heat and vegetation that has already been parched by three previous heatwaves is raising concerns of further wildfire risk, with the usual peak month of August still ahead.
Southwest France, which is already badly affected by wildfires, is expected to bear the brunt with temperatures of between 37 and 39 degrees, possibly exceeding 40 degrees in areas between Toulouse and the Aquitaine basin.
Further north, the Paris region and northeast of France are expected to have temperatures of over 35 degrees Celsius.
The overall temperature is expected to stay high during the nights, remaining upward of 25 degrees in many parts of France.
The heat is forecast to reach its peak later this week, on Saturday, August 1st, but the outlook is uncertain and the heatwave could last another week after that.
Bordeaux fire still not ‘under control’
A massive blaze that reached 15km from the French city of Bordeaux is still not under control, the emergency services have said.
“The weather conditions are favourable, with less wind. But there are still active fires,” the spokesman for the Bordeaux fire service SDIS33 Wilfried Schneider told AFP news agency.
The most active area of the fire is between the areas of Marcheprime and Pierroton, on the outskirts of the Bordeaux metropolitan area.
“We can’t say the fire is stabilised. We’ve stabilised a situation that was completely unstable, but we’re still not in control of the fire,” he said.
Tourists flee wildfires by boat in Italy
About 400 tourists were evacuated due to a wildfire on the coast near Peschici in the southeastern region of Apulia, with the coastguard rescuing dozens of them by boat.
The evacuated people were housed in school buildings last night and were expected to be able to return to their accommodation soon as firefighters and water-bombing aircraft helped bring the blaze under control.
The incident brought back painful memories of a 2007 fire in the same area that killed three people and injured 300.
“A vast fire is destroying the pine forest that had begun to grow again over the past 20 years, between Peschici and Vieste,” president of the Gargano railways Vincenzo Scarcia Germano, who helped evacuate tourists, told local media.
Wildfires force evacuation of 90,000 people in Spain
Authorities in Spain have evacuated over 90,000 people while 30,000 have been confined to their homes as firefighters battle massive blazes in the regions of Madrid, Ávila, and Toledo.
The fire in the region of Ávila is the largest in Spain’s recent history and has burned some 47,000 hectares.
The evacuated areas of the Madrid region include Chapinería, Navas del Rey, Colmenar del Arroyo, and Cenicientos -- municipalities on the western extremity of the Spanish capital’s surrounding region towards the Valle de Iruelas nature reserve.
Authorities in several areas of Spain have urged people to remain indoors due to wildfire smoke, which is particularly dangerous for children, the elderly, pregnant women, or people with conditions like asthma or heart trouble.
Macron holds crisis meeting
French President Emmanuel Macron is currently holding a crisis meeting to address the wildfires that are raging across France.
A huge fire outside Bordeaux has forced the evacuation of 220,000 people and has burned 42,000 hectares, making it of record size.
Some 84 firefighters have been injured as they try to contain the blazes.
Other fires are still burning elsewhere in France, including in the regions of Hautes-Alpes, Haute-Corse, Var, and Landes.
Fuelled by dry conditions and high winds, wildfires have burned up a record amount of land in France this year.
