Firefighters fought wildfires that got out of hand in Spain and France, including one whose flames reached two popular Atlantic beaches on Sunday, as Europe wilted under an unusually extreme heat wave.
there have been no fire-related deaths here in France or Spain so far, but authorities in Madrid have blamed the high temperatures for hundreds of deaths.
And two massive fires, which devastated pine forests in southwestern France for six days, have resulted in the evacuation of some 16,200 people.
Dramatic images posted online showed a wall of black smoke billowing toward the Atlantic Ocean on a stretch of the Bordeaux coast prized by surfers around the world. Flames swept over trees bordering a wide sandy beach, while planes flew low to suck up water from the ocean.
Elsewhere, smoke blanketed the skyline above a mass of scorched trees in images shared by French firefighters.
In Spain, firefighters, supported by military brigades, attempted to eradicate more than 30 forest fires across the country.
Spain’s national defense ministry said “the majority” of its firefighting aircraft had been deployed to reach the fires, many of which were in rugged, hilly terrain difficult for ground personnel to access.
The drought in the Iberian Peninsula made it particularly prone to wildfires — some caused by lightning, others caused accidentally and some intentionally — after a mass of hot air was blown out of Africa.
The fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after a dry, hot spring the EU has attributed to climate change. Some countries are experiencing prolonged droughts, while many are sweltering from heat waves.
During Spain’s second heat wave of summer, many areas have seen repeated spikes of 43C.
According to Spain’s Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related deaths daily, 360 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from July 10 to 15. This was compared with 27 temperature-related deaths in the past six days.
Almost all of Spain was on high temperature alert for another day on Sunday, while heat wave warnings were issued for about half of France, where scorching temperatures were expected to rise higher on Monday.
The French government has stepped up efforts to protect people in nursing homes, the homeless and other vulnerable populations after an intense heat wave and poor planning resulted in nearly 15,000 deaths in 2003, mostly among the elderly.
Meanwhile, the fire at La Teste-de-Buch, near Bordeaux, had forced 10,000 people to flee at a time when many were flocking to the nearby Atlantic coast for vacation.
The Gironde regional government said on Sunday afternoon that “the situation remains very unfavourable” due to the wind gusts that have caused more flare-ups at night.
“Emergency services are giving priority to protecting the population, protecting sensitive areas and limiting the fire’s progress,” authorities said.
A second fire near the town of Landiras, south of a valley of vineyards in Bordeaux, had forced authorities to evacuate 4,100 people this week.
Authorities said one flank had been brought under control by the dumping of white sand along a 2-km stretch. But another flank remained unchecked.
People who had to flee shared their concerns about their abandoned homes with local media, and local officials organized special trips for some to retrieve pets they had left behind in the rush to get to safety.
In total, more than 40 square miles of land was burned in the two fires.
Emergency services warned that high temperatures and wind on Sunday and Monday would complicate efforts to prevent the fires from spreading further.
“We have to remain very careful and very humble, because the day will be very hot. We do not have a favorable weather window,” regional fire officer Eric Florensan said on radio France-Bleu.
Some of the most worrying fires in Spain have been concentrated in the western regions of Extremadura and Castilla y Leon.
Firefighters were unable to stop the advance of a fire that broke out near the town of Caceres, threatening the Monfrague National Park and preventing 200 people from returning to their homes.
Another fire in southern Spain near the city of Malaga had forced the evacuation of another 2,500 people. There were more fires near the central city of Avila, in northwestern Galicia, among others.
Hungary, Croatia and the Greek island of Crete have also been affected by forest fires this week.
The scorching temperatures have reached as far north as the UK, where the UK Met Office has issued its first-ever “red warning” of extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in southern England can reach 40C for the first time.
That would still be relatively bearable compared to the 47C recorded Wednesday in Portugal’s northern city of Pinhao, setting a new national record.