Thousands flee wildfires in France and Spain as temperatures reach extreme levels in southern Europe

Firefighters battle the blaze using a water truck near the village of Le Porge in south-western France. Photograph: Romain Perrocheau/AFP/Getty View image in fullscreen Firefighters battle the blaze using a water truck near the village of Le Porge in south-western France. Photograph: Romain Perrocheau/AFP/Getty Thousands flee wildfires in France and Spain as temperatures reach extreme levels in southern Europe France asks EU for help while Spain declares national emergency around Madrid, as marine heatwave sees parts of Mediterranean Sea 5C hotter than normal Brutal heat torching southern Europe has forced about 30,000 people to flee wildfires in France and Spain as a marine heatwave scalds the Mediterranean and researchers warn that “Dantesque” scenarios cannot be ruled out as infernos worsen. France has requested assistance from ⁠the European Union to help it deal ⁠with a ⁠major ​wildfire near the country’s Atlantic coast, while Spain has declared a national emergency in the Madrid region and in the province of Avila, because of several wildfires burning out of control. President ⁠Emmanuel Macron on Friday wrote on X that the situation remained “extremely tense” with ⁠the fires particularly bad ​in Gironde in southwestern France. “France has requested the activation ‌of the European Union’s civil protection mechanism. We will soon be able to count on reinforcements from two Croatian Canadair ‌aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor planes, as well as ​two heavy Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” he said. The fire on France’s Atlantic coast prompted the evacuation of more than 18,800 people, including thousands of tourists from campsites and holiday homes, as firefighters struggled to control the blaze. Thousands evacuated in south of France as wildfire rages across pine forest – video Spain late Thursday declared a national emergency in the Madrid region and in the province of Avila, near the capital, in the wake of several wildfires burning out of control. Around the Madrid region, the fires have forced the evacuation of 10,000 people, placing the response to the crisis in the hands of a military emergency unit. “The government has deployed every available resource to stop the terrible fires currently affecting numerous areas: Avila, Leon, Toledo, Madrid and other parts of Spain,” prime minister Pedro Sánchez said earlier on X, urging the public to exercise “great caution” and heed instructions from authorities. Almost 125,000 hectares have already burnt in Spain this year compared with 393,000 for the whole of last year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.