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Nearly 270,000 people displaced by fires in France and Spain
200,000 people have been displaced in France while around 70,000 in Spain, as firefighters struggle to contain fires spreading through the two countries. Western Europe has seen exceptionally high temperatures this summer, making it harder to contain fires.
Vatican News
Nearly 270,000 people have been displaced by evacuation orders across Spain and France as wildfires tear through certain areas of the countries. Summer temperatures have been exceptionally high in Western Europe, making it easier for fires to ignite and spread.
It has been an exceptionally hot summer so far in western Europe with successive heatwaves. June was the hottest June recorded for western Europe, according to data from the EU’s climate change service, Copernicus.
The BBC explained that these conditions, coupled with very dry weather and below-average precipitation across large areas of France and Spain, mean the vegetation is very dry and prone to ignition, and winds can also help fan the flames.
Additionally, an unusually wet winter allowed vegetation to grow widely and rapidly, which, when dried by the summer heat, has meant abundant fuel for the fires.
This has created the perfect conditions for fires to spread. Climate change is also increasing the risk of summer heatwaves across Europe – which is the fastest-warming continent on earth, with temperatures rising more than 0.5C each decade since the 1990s.
Nearly 200,000 evacuated in France
The south-west of France is the hardest hit area in the country, especially regions near the city of Bordeaux – like Gironde and Landes – where nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated.
The French Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, told the BBC that around 98,000 hectares of land have burned across France since the start of the year.
The French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, described the fires as unprecedented and said the Gironde blaze had become so strong that it was generating its own winds in a post on the social media platform X. “Our priority is clear: protecting human lives,” he said, adding that evacuation orders “must be respected without delay.”
On Saturday, authorities were preparing to use a massive specially adapted cargo aircraft to dump flame retardants on the Gironde blaze.
Spain has complex hours ahead
Meanwhile, at least 60,000 have been displaced in Spain as fires have been burning close to the capital Madrid.
Addressing reporters on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the priority was “saving lives” and protecting inhabited areas, but warned that “complex hours” lay ahead.
He also said that fires have burned around 130,000 hectares of forest this year in Spain, up from an annual average of 100,000 hectares over the past decade.
Fires have also been touching other areas of Europe, including Italy – where more than 350 fires broke out in Sicily – and Scotland, where emergency services have been tackling a wildfire that has been burning in a national park for 10 days.
(Source: BBC, Associated Press)
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