Forest fires across Spain and France are raging out of control, forcing up to 150,000 people to flee the flames.
In the Gironde region in southwestern France alone, 110,000 people are being evacuated, according to France's Interior Minister, who says the current fire situation is "unprecedented" and that authorities are "doing everything to protect" the Bordeaux metropolitan area, writes Le Figaro.
Interior Minister Nuñez has called an emergency meeting tonight regarding the fires. A number of government representatives are expected to attend the meeting.
Hundreds of people were evacuated by sea from the tourist-heavy Cap Ferret peninsula, just west of Bordeaux, after a forest fire spread rapidly there. According to rescue services, the fire was burning through between 800 and 1,000 hectares per hour.
Ashes over the beaches
Audrey Yssartier, 34, told TT on Friday about the extent of the fire.
"People who were sitting on the beach yesterday were covered in ash. Now everyone has been told to leave Cap Ferret," Yssartier said.
Further south along the coast in the French region of Landes, 31,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. At least two firefighters in France have died on duty, the French news agency AFP reported.
Spain has declared a state of emergency in parts of the country after several forest fires raged out of control. The state of emergency gives authorities greater powers.
Two of three fires west of Madrid flared up and merged into one large blaze on Friday, according to Spanish fire services. The forest fire "spiked" on Friday evening and "exceeds the firefighters' ability to bring it under control," said Carlos Novillo, head of the Madrid region's firefighting operations, according to the newspaper El País.
In the Madrid region, over 25,000 people have been evacuated and 20,000 have been advised to stay home, as hazardous fire smoke blows into densely populated areas.
Another difficult-to-extinguish forest fire is advancing in the province of Ávila west of Madrid. 8,000 people have been evacuated and 5,000 have been quarantined.
Irene García Gallego lives in the mountainous Sierra de Guadarrama, about ten miles from the fires.
Ash is falling from the sky. It's hard to breathe.
Several large forest fires have raged in Spain in recent weeks and France was hit hard by a heatwave in June.
Dry land causes more fires
Early-summer heatwaves in Europe have contributed to southern Europe's currently very dry soil, which in turn means an increased risk of forest fires this year, the World Weather Attribution group reports in a newly published study that points to climate change as an underlying cause, according to AFP.
Spain and France have requested reinforcement from the EU and the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (ERCC) has been activated.
