France and Spain race to control wildfires as more than 250,000 evacuated – live

If you’re just joining us, here are the day’s main developments:

• Firefighters across France and Spain continue to battle wildfires that have displaced almost 270,000 people.

• In France, 197,000 people have been evacuated near Bordeaux, including in the suburbs of the city.

• The Spanish interior ministry said a total of 70,000 people have been evacuated from villages west of Madrid.

• Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the wildfire situation near Madrid remained “complex” as he visited affected areas. “We don’t know how the wind will develop, even though temperatures have dropped,” he said.

• France has now recorded its highest-ever area of land burned by wildfires in a single year. According to data by the EU’s European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), which goes back 2006, 69,473 hectares (172,000 acres) of land have burned in France since the start of the year, compared with 66,337 (164,000 acres) in 2022.

• In France, about 500 additional soldiers are being sent to support firefighters, bringing the total to 1,000, according to officials.

The number of people evacuated in France in Spain has now passed 250,000, according to authorities in both countries.

The French government said that 197,000 people were evacuated because of wildfires near Bordeaux, in southwest France.

The Spanish interior ministry said a total of 70,000 people were evacuated from villages west of Madrid.

Both countries are facing unprecedented blazes that are spreading unchecked despite the efforts of many hundreds of firefighters backed by water-dropping aircraft.

Spain’s health ministry has now issued a health warning for Madrid due to smoke from the fires.

Spanish minister for health Mónica García posted on X:

Due to the fires, today’s air quality in Madrid is not good, with PM2.5 levels well above those recommended by the WHO. Avoid physical activity and staying outdoors. If you go outside and there is smoke or ash, use an FFP2/95 mask and goggles to protect your eyes.

Seek medical attention if you notice difficulty breathing, chest pain, or shortness of breath. Pay special attention to vulnerable people around you. Stay informed through official sources and follow the instructions from emergency services.

In Spain, another 25,000 people have been evacuated from villages near Madrid threatened by wildfires.

That brings the total who have fled to 70,000, the national government delegate to Madrid said on Saturday.

The latest evacuations took place in the Valle del Tietar area of Avila province west of the capital, as well as two villages in the Madrid region, the official, Francisco Martin, told journalists.

Away from Europe, Japan has recorded its fifth consecutive “cruelly hot day”, a new meteorological term devised this year to warn people of intense heat above 40C, as officials issued heatstroke warnings in parts of the country.

The streak marks the longest number of days in a row with blistering temperatures since records started in 2010, public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported.

Six cities in central Japan including in the Aichi and Gifu regions surpassed the new threshold for “kokushobi”, which translates to “cruelly hot day”, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

By using this designation, JMA said in April that it would be able to “more effectively call for vigilance against extremely high temperatures”, although the term does not trigger any official measures nationwide.

Close to 11,000 people sought out emergency medical care in Japan between July 13 and 19, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Fourteen of those were pronounced dead upon arrival, the agency said, adding that the public must regard the extreme heat as a “disaster”.

We would like to hear from people who have been affected by these wildfires. Have you had to evacuate your home? How are you coping? Are you living with smoke, poor air quality or the threat of evacuation? We would like to hear about your experiences.

Though we’d like to hear from you, your safety and security are most important. When recording or sharing your content with us, please put your welfare and the welfare of others first. Extreme weather events can be very unpredictable and carry very real risks.

You can contact us via the form on the link below:

Authorities in France and Spain have said the wildfires have forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people.

French interior minister Laurent Nunez said 167,000 people had been evacuated in France, while the Spanish interior ministry put its total at 45,000.

France has recorded its highest-ever area of land burned by wildfires in a single year, with 2026 surpassing the previous record set in 2022 as fires continue to rage in the south-western Gironde and Landes regions.

According to data by the EU’s European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), which goes back 2006, 69,473 hectares (172,000 acres) of land have burned in France since the start of the year, compared with 66,337 (164,000 acres) in 2022.

The Spanish state meteorological office, Aemet, said the fire risk will be lower today than on previous days across the west and central parts of Spain.

But it warned that it will remain “at very high levels” across other parts of the country and even reach extreme levels in the north-east and east.

According to the Spanish environment ministry, there have been 32 large wildfires in Spain so far this year, compared with seven over the same period last year (1 January to 25 July).

From 1 January to 25 July this year, 131,113 hectares of land in Spain have been burned in wildfires. The figure for the same period last year was 24,133 hectares.

Pedro Sánchez made a stark revelation that 130,000 hectares (321,000 acres) of land have already burned since January – exceeding the annual average of 100,000 hectares over the last decade.

As we reported earlier, the wildfires raging west of Madrid have prompted Sánchez to reiterate his call for a “national pact against the climate emergency”, urging a coordinated response to the growing threat posed by climate change.

The Spanish prime minister’s remarks, made during a visit to the affected areas this morning, came after he announced a 10-point plan to tackle the climate crisis last year, as my colleague Sam Jones reports.

He proposed a series of initiatives including a state civil protection agency to coordinate crisis responses, a network of climate refuges across the country and a rethink of forest management and land use. Only by acting now, he said, could the country hope to avert similar disasters or reduce their impacts.

You can read Sam’s report here:

The French government has mobilised soldiers to help tackle the wildfire ravaging south-west France and distributed 1.5m face masks to protect people from smoke exposure.

Authorities in the Gironde region that includes Bordeaux ordered the evacuation for parts of three of the city’s western suburbs, including its airport, according to the Associated Press. Other towns and villages west of the city were also ordered to evacuate, adding to the tally of 141,000 people who have already been forced to flee in the face of two major fires in the south-western Gironde and Landes regions.

In a post on X, the French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said more than 500 military personnel have already been deployed and more will be sent today to help firefighting teams.

He said 1.5m masks were being delivered to Gironde “to protect personnel on the ground and members of the public exposed to harmful smoke”.

In further comments, Sánchez said:

Our priority, our thinking, our aim is for your lives, to save your lives and protect inhabited areas.

We are going to have some complex hours ahead because although the temperatures have gone down, we do not know exactly how the wind will develop, how strong it will be.”

The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the wildfire situation near Madrid remained “complex” as he visited affected areas.

“We don’t know how the wind will develop, even though temperatures have dropped,” he said, according to El País.

The Spanish newspaper reported the prime minister reiterated his call for a “national pact against the climate emergency”, as he asked the public to “accept and understand” that climate change is causing increasingly severe and intense forest fires that are even “exceeding scientific predictions”.

A French foreign minister has urged people not to abandon travel plans despite severe wildfires affecting parts of the country’s south-west.

Éléonore Caroit, the minister for francophone, international partnerships and French nationals abroad, said France was experiencing an “exceptionally intense” fire season, but stressed that many regions remained unaffected and visitors should keep their plans while staying informed about local conditions.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Caroit described the fires as a “tragedy”, with nearly 50,000 hectares (123,600 acres) of land burned this year, surpassing the impact of previous severe fire seasons.

She added: “You have entire areas that are fine, you’re seeing similar phenomena in Spain and other countries. I’m in Paris and nothing is happening, and most other regions are OK, so do please come to France and do not cancel your travel plans.

“But wherever you are, please do be advised as to what might be happening.”

Scotland’s first minister John Swinney said the Cairngorms national park wildfire is still a “very serious situation”, as the Scottish government reconvened an emergency meeting this morning to review the ongoing response.

The village of Nethy Bridge was evacuated as a precaution last night after Police Scotland declared a major incident following changes in wind conditions that intensified the pace of spread of the wildfire.

“This continues to be a very serious situation. Residents, businesses and people staying in the affected areas will understandably be very worried. My thoughts are with them and I thank them for their understanding,” Swinney said in a statement.

“With the fire changing to be in the direction of Nethy Bridge yesterday afternoon, a precautionary evacuation was put in place and a fire break was successfully established overnight to protect the village. Police officers visited all properties in Nethy Bridge and officers are in the village today to support residents.”

He added that changing winds had shifted the wildfire’s path, reducing the immediate threat to Nethy Bridge while firefighting teams focused on containing the blaze and creating new firebreaks.

“This demonstrates how these situations can change very quickly and dramatically,” he said.

The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has visited areas affected by the wildfires near Madrid, which has burned nearly 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of land.