France, Spain win some respite as wildfire battles rage
Yves Herman, Lefteris Papadimas and Emma Pinedo |
France, Spain and Greece are battling major wildfires, with Spain bringing one blaze under control but facing new threats as intense heat, dry vegetation and powerful winds keep much of southern Europe on alert.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday downgraded the emergency level for a major fire on the border between Madrid and Castilla y Leon, but warned the danger had not passed as at least 10 other blazes caused concern across the country.
In France, two people were arrested on suspicion of arson as crews contained a vast fire near Bordeaux, while fires in Greece killed three firefighters and forced tourists and residents to flee parts of Crete, some by boat.
Emergency crews have faced barely a pause between heatwaves and fire fronts this northern summer across an increasingly tinder-dry Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent.
In eastern England, firefighters were tackling a significant wildfire at Dunwich Heath, prompting the evacuation of about 200 caravans from the area, a significant biodiversity site. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service called the blaze one of the most challenging incidents in the county’s history.
EU countries are having an above-average season for wildfires, already overtaking 2025’s record-breaking year. Across parts of western and southern Europe, a relatively wet winter fed forests and scrubland before successive heatwaves baked new growth into tinder, leaving abundant fuel for fires.
Thursday’s temperatures showed Europe was the continent furthest from its historic norm, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor. The average high was forecast to be 25.3C, which is 3.6C above what was typical from 1961 to 1990.
In southwestern France, authorities said the fires near Bordeaux had not spread overnight, with the area burned holding at 42,000 hectares and milder weather forecast.
The French fires have torn through pine forests and forced about 220,000 residents and holidaymakers to evacuate, although some 60,000 have been allowed to return.
Thousands of businesses which briefly suspended operations were gradually reopening, while a key motorway would fully reopen on Thursday after days of partial closures, officials said.
Conditions were expected to ease around Bordeaux on Thursday, with the possibility of thunderstorms, greater humidity and temperatures below recent peaks. But an extreme heat warning remained in force in Gironde, the department of which Bordeaux is the main city.
Wildfires in France have now burned more land than in any year since 2006.
Two firefighters died after becoming trapped in a fire which erupted in central Crete on Wednesday while they were driving between fire fronts. Another died in a separate fire in the Peloponnese region.
Hundreds of residents and tourists were evacuated from the area by sea and by land around the community of Krya Vrysi and surrounding villages as high winds pushed the fire out of control near popular holiday spots. Many spent the night on camp beds erected in an indoor gym.
Overnight weather helped firefighters consolidate the fire’s perimeter, with no active fronts or further spread reported for several days.
Crews continued monitoring and cooling hot spots, while around 1000 residents remained evacuated from housing developments near the San Juan reservoir west of the capital.
Reuters