More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in France, Spain and Italy as wildfires rage across southern Europe. Spain declared its first national emergency for a wildfire after two blazes merged west of Madrid, while in France, holidaymakers on the Cap Ferret peninsula fled by boat as flames closed in. The fires have destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of forest and forced the cancellation of holidays as British tourists were caught up in the chaos.
The fires are concentrated in two main areas. In south-west France, a blaze in the Gironde and Landes regions has burned through more than 19,000 hectares of pine forest and prompted the evacuation of around 141,000 people, according to the French interior ministry. The Cap Ferret peninsula, a popular holiday spot known for its beaches and celebrity villas, was emptied village by village, with some residents and tourists escaping by boat across Arcachon Bay. Firefighters from across the region, aided by water-bombing planes, have been battling the flames since mid-July, but officials say the fire remains “highly unpredictable” and continues to spread.
“European wildfires have forced mass evacuations and a Spanish national emergency — here's why they're intensifying and what UK travellers need to know.”
In Spain, three wildfires merged into one fire front about 50km west of Madrid, burning through at least 6,000 hectares in the Madrid region and a further 9,000 hectares in the neighbouring province of Ávila. Around 60,000 people have been evacuated or locked down. Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, called it “the worst fire in the history of the region”, describing a “perfect storm” of record temperatures, strong winds and dry fuel. Spain has deployed its Military Emergency Unit and appealed to the European Union for help. Meanwhile, Italy’s islands of Sicily and Sardinia are also battling multiple blazes, with scorching temperatures and sirocco winds spreading flames towards towns and infrastructure.
These extreme wildfires are not a one-off. Scientists say climate breakdown is making heatwaves and droughts more frequent and more intense, creating conditions in which fires can spread faster and burn longer. European temperatures are rising at about twice the global average rate, turning forests into tinderboxes. The fires in France and Spain follow a pattern seen in recent years: intense, early-season blazes that overwhelm local firefighting capacity. In the UK, the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland also saw a major wildfire declared on the same weekend, with hundreds evacuated from the village of Nethy Bridge as strengthening winds made the fire unpredictable.
Q: Why are these wildfires so severe? The fires are fuelled by a combination of extreme heat, drought and strong winds. A heatwave across southern Europe has dried out vegetation, while winds have pushed flames into new areas, making containment difficult. In Spain, officials reported that embers were flying for miles, allowing the fire to jump across roads and rivers.
Q: Is this linked to climate change? Yes, directly. Scientists confirm that climate breakdown is making extreme weather events more common, including the heatwaves and dry conditions that enable wildfires. Europe is heating faster than the global average, increasing the risk of large, uncontrollable blazes.
Q: Could a wildfire of this scale happen in the UK? While the UK’s climate is generally wetter, wildfires do occur — as seen in the Cairngorms during the same weekend. As temperatures rise and summers get drier, the risk of wildfires in areas like moorlands, forests and peat bogs increases. The UK is already seeing more frequent wildfire incidents.
What happens next is uncertain. Firefighters in both France and Spain say the blazes are still not under control. Officials expect the number of evacuated people to rise as winds change direction. France has mobilised the military to assist with the response, and both countries have asked the EU for additional firefighting resources. The immediate focus is on protecting lives and property, but longer term, European governments will face growing pressure to invest in wildfire prevention and adapt to a hotter, drier climate.