Scores of people have been displaced as uncontrolled wildfires continue to spread through various countries in southern Europe. Firefighters across Portugal, Spain, France, and Greece are battling flames that have consumed nearly 20,000 hectares.
In a remote part of the French Pyrenees near Spain, 700 firefighters are trying to contain a wildfire that has already devoured 5,000 hectares and forced more than 10,000 residents to evacuate. The fire has nearly tripled in size since Sunday.
“This morning, conditions are deteriorating again,” French interior minister Laurent Nuñez said on Monday, adding that fires are now burning in five departments, with double the area burned in France this season compared to the same period last year.
The EU announced it was sending four water-dropping planes from Cyprus and Sweden to assist firefighters near Perpignan.
“It came within 300 metres of the houses. We were shocked by how fast it spread, it was staggering – bordering on panic,” Patrice, a resident of Trévillach, told AFP.
The fires come after a May heatwave and another in June that broke temperature records across western Europe, caused thousands of deaths, and left vast stretches of land highly susceptible to fire.
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group have said the June temperatures would have been “virtually impossible” without the climate crisis. Forecasts predict temperatures will again reach 40 degrees Celsius locally this week.
On the Spanish side, fire has destroyed 2,200 hectares, 97% of which lies within the protected Les Gavarres natural area. In central Portugal’s Vouzela area, over 1,200 firefighters worked to extinguish a fire that had burned 13,000 hectares.
Spain and Italy sent support, and emergency services said 80% of the fire was under control. Portugal’s interior minister described conditions as a “powder keg.” Elsewhere, large fires destroyed hundreds of hectares on Croatia’s Hvar island and in Albania’s Tale area.
In Greece, a forest fire tore through two factories in Thessaloniki, with authorities issuing evacuation alerts for three suburbs due to toxic smoke from a recycling plant.
Another major wildfire broke out west of Athens, with 210 firefighters and 29 aircraft deployed near Mandra.
Eastern Pyrenees officials have banned Tour de France spectators from certain sections, with access limited to the passage of riders only. As southern Europe burns, firefighters brace for a long and brutal season ahead.
And the overall situation in Europe is far from under control, and the risk of new fires remains critically high.
