Macron calls crisis meeting as wildfires threaten Bordeaux and heatwave looms

French President Emmanuel Macron will a hold a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday as wildfires close in on the south-western city of Bordeaux.

Another heatwave is set to complicate efforts to tackle the expanding blaze, which is about 15km (9 miles) from Bordeaux, mayor Thomas Cazenave said. Earlier he said there were no plans to evacuate the population of about 850,000.

Wildfires have raged across Europe over the past week, primarily in France and Spain, where more than 330,000 people have been evacuated across both countries.

Macron said on Saturday that France would “rebuild” and his government would “be there for as long as is needed”.

Tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated from Bordeaux’s surrounding region, with France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez saying the situation remained “very unfavourable” and the fire was “moving erratically” towards the city.

Weather forecasts for the country warned that temperatures could spike to 40C in some areas from Tuesday.

France’s main fire in the Gironde region has caused an unprecedented “pyrocumulonimbus” – a giant fire thunderstorm fuelled by its own winds and lightning, said the National Firefighters Federation of France (FNSPF).

“We don’t know how the blaze will spread, the fire front is constantly shifting. We cannot fight it directly,” said spokesman Eric Brocardi.

“It’s a David-versus-Goliath scenario.”

He added that to control the blaze, it would need to rain “heavily for three days” or require firefighters steering it towards a place where it can die down on its own, like the sea.

The wildfires have badly affected France. About 42,000 hectares have been burnt in the south-west, in one of the largest forest fires since World War Two. Since the start of the year, about 98,000 hectares have been scorched.

More than 220,000 people have been evacuated in the south-west of the country.

Meanwhile, firefighters in Spain battled a new blaze on Sunday near the eastern coastal city of Valencia where around 15,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

Pilar Bernabe, the central government’s delegate to Valencia, said the fire had been “very intense” and weather conditions were expected to worsen.

Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who is expected to visit affected areas in Valencia on Monday, said the fires were advancing slowly.

“Difficult hours lie ahead,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a visit to the fire zone in Ávila province, west of Madrid.

He also called for “a major public pact on the climate emergency”.

Spain’s King Felipe VI said the wildfires had caused “incalculable” damage to the country’s natural heritage, as he toured an emergency shelter in Villamanta, south-west of the capital.

Around 77,000 hectares have been affected by the fires in Spain, minister for ecological transition, Sara Aagesen, said on Sunday.

She added that the wildfire burning in the Ávila region is the largest in the country’s recent history.

Among the residents evacuating surrounding areas is Olga Congacha, 50, who had to hastily flee her village Robledo de Chavela, west of Madrid.

She said she felt “panicked” when she was told to leave her home.

“I didn’t know whether to cry or what. It was a moment when you feel awful,” she added.

Returning to her home briefly on Sunday to get medicine, she said the streets were deserted and her house had been covered in ash.

Authorities say winds were pushing the wildfires near Madrid to the south and away from the capital, but have forced the evacuation of more villages in its path.

More than 90,000 people have been evacuated from the regions around Madrid and Ávila.