London: Tens of thousands of people are fleeing wildfires in southern France after flames spread rapidly through areas busy with families on school holidays, in the latest emergency of a European summer marked by intense heat and dry conditions.

In neighbouring Spain, a national emergency was declared on Friday after wildfires forced the evacuation of some 10,000 people in the central region of Madrid.

French authorities said more than 700 firefighters were trying to contain a blaze around the Bay of Arcachon, a tourism hotspot west of Bordeaux.

They ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula on Friday morning, with residents and tourists told to assemble at piers in four villages to leave by boat, or else use the only road linking to the mainland. Some 40,000 people were evacuated from the area. The fire has already devastated 8700 hectares and is still raging.

“The gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 metres away – we grabbed some things and left,” Patrick Martineau, a 69-year-old resident of Le Porge, south of Bordeaux, told London’s Telegraph.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he had requested help from the European Union, which funds support including firefighting aircraft.

“Overnight, the fire spread more quickly than we had imagined,” said Philippe de Gonneville, the mayor of Lège-Cap Ferret.

The pressure on fire departments in south-western France has been increased by another wildfire that began on Thursday afternoon near Biscarosse, 40 kilometres south of Cap Ferret.

That fire, which is still not under control, had devastated 2500 hectares, the prefect for the Landes area, Gilles Clavreul, said in a statement.

“Winds are blowing, and the situation remains highly dynamic and unfavourable,” he said. More than 23,000 people were evacuated from the Biscarosse district, mainly in campsites and homes. A children’s summer camp and a residential care home for the elderly were also evacuated.

The emergencies highlight the ongoing threat from the intense heat, when the French public health agency has estimated an “excess mortality” of 5764 deaths between June 17 and July 2, as temperatures soared above 30 degrees.

The death toll remains below the statistics reported during a similar heatwave in 2003, although the estimate is yet to reflect the impact over the full summer.

Macron said two firefighters lost their lives while responding to a fire near Bordeaux’s airport. “I extend to their families, to their loved ones, and to the firefighters of France the condolences, the gratitude, and the support of the nation,” he said.

Wildfires have also spread in Spain and Italy after the heatwaves of the northern summer.

In ​Spain, more than 10,000 people were evacuated from towns in the mountains west of the capital, Madrid, as three fires in the region and neighbouring Avila province prompted the government to declare a national emergency. It was the first time such a measure – which allows it to take charge of co-ordinating the response– has been taken due to a wildfire.

“We are experiencing a dramatic situation, not just in several Spanish regions but also in neighbouring countries,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X. “My solidarity with all the people who have been affected and ... forced to leave their homes.”

In Italy, a 59-year-old firefighter died after falling ill while battling ⁠a large wildfire near San Cataldo in Sicily.

Arsonists in Calabria were reported to have tied rags to the tails of stray cats and set them alight, causing wildfires. Investigators also found candles and delayed ignition devices in the aftermath of the fire, according to London’s Telegraph. The blaze spread through the Pollino national park in Calabria in southern Italy this week.

“These animals were released into the fields, running around and spreading the fire,” said Domenico Costarella, of Calabria’s civil protection agency.

Europe is bearing the brunt of ⁠a rapidly warming climate, with temperatures rising more than twice as fast as the global average.

The Reuters Climate Monitor, an interactive tool tracking weather patterns, showed that the average high across Western Europe is forecast to be 26.5 degrees on Thursday, 2.9 degrees above the normal high for July 23 over the period from 1961 to 1990.

With Reuters

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