Massive Wildfires Force Over 300,000 to Evacuate Across France and Spain

Historic Evacuation Underway

More than 300,000 people have been displaced by climate-change driven wildfires in France and Spain after new evacuation orders were issued. The gigantic wildfire is ravaging southern France, prompting the largest evacuation in the country's history.

Crisis Response and Regional Impact

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to hold a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday, while Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit areas hit by fires in Valencia, in the East of Spain. French crews are battling flames in communities around Bordeaux, while Spanish firefighters work to consolidate their progress and stop new flare-ups in the Madrid region.

In Spain, 79,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in villages west of Madrid and in Castellón, a province on the eastern coast, while 30,000 others have been confined to their homes. The fires in Landes have burned more than 3,600 hectares and destroyed 198 buildings, with around 8,000 of the 30,000 people evacuated from the area allowed to return.

International Support and Climate Link

European Commissioner for crisis management Hadja Lahbib said Monday that the EU had sent seven planes and four helicopters from Czechia, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and Turkey to France, and another six planes from Greece, Italy and Turkey to Spain.

A study released in June by World Weather Attribution found that the record-breaking heat in recent weeks would not have been possible without climate change, with France's June being the hottest on record, averaging 3.8 degrees Celsius above normal, while rainfall was nearly 50% below average. Temperatures are expected to soar again in the hardest-hit areas this week, with no rain in sight.