France evacuates 20,000 as wildfires spread in south-west

About 12,000 people have been evacuated from the south-west of France and authorities are moving 8,800 others as wildfires spread in the Gironde region.

The fire brigade says about 3,100 hectares (7,660 acres) of land have already been destroyed around the Bay of Arcachon.

Many of those who had to leave the area overnight were visitors to local campsites on the Lège-Cap-Ferret peninsula and the latest evacuations also involved campsites as a precaution.

Wildfires have also broken out in Spain and Italy in recent days. Residents were evacuated near Toledo south of Madrid and a firefighter died after falling ill while tackling a blaze in Sicily.

The Gironde prefect, Sophie Brocas, said 10,000 visitors were among those evacuated from campsites overnight and the latest evacuations were going ahead “calmly” in the village of Claouey, on the shore of Arcachon Bay.

Brocas said no injuries had been reported. Some sites and roads were being closed in exposed forest areas.

“The work was relentless all night,” said Gironde fire service chief Marc Vermeulen, who warned that temperatures were rising and the wind was getting stronger. “It’ll peak at 20:00. Then we’ll have to deal with… highly variable winds so we’re currently tackling a fire that is going to be difficult to predict and that’s why we cannot relax our guard.”

Two local firefighters died earlier this week fighting another fire close to Bordeaux airport.

Yassmina de Freitas, 19, who lives in the coastal town of Le Porge, said she noticed smoke and the smell of burning at lunchtime on Wednesday.

By the afternoon “ash… [and] half-burned tree bark” were falling, the sky was “very dark” and the smoke was getting “thicker and thicker”.

At around 20:00 local time (19:00 BST), her family was evacuated by law enforcement and taken to a gymnasium in a neighbouring town. They had to leave two of their cats and four chickens behind as they could not be found in the flurry to leave.

She said she could not sleep at all and was waking up every hour to check the fire’s progress.

“I could see the number of hectares burned rising steadily,” she said.

BBC South presenter Jo Kent is on holiday with her family in France, staying at the Lesley Pastourelles campsite in Claouey, next to Lège.

She said multiple people at the campsite who were very anxious about the situation had already left.

The main road down to the south of the peninsula, which is normally filled with “nose to tail traffic”, was empty and the supermarket is “unnervingly quiet”, Kent added.

In the Var region in south-east France, evacuated residents were told they could go home to assess potential damage to properties on Thursday morning. However, it warned people to limit their movements in the area due to the risk of the fire re-igniting as the wind picks up through the afternoon.

Several French departments have been ravaged by wildfires during a series of unusual and prolonged heatwaves that have swept across Europe this summer.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez paid tribute to the two firefighters who died on Tuesday near Bordeaux airport – expressing his “infinite gratitude” and “unwavering support” to their families.

In Italy, authorities have paid tribute to a firefighter who died tackling a wildfire in San Cataldo, as Sicily’s regional leader Renato Schifani wished a “speedy recovery” to another firefighter involved in the same operation.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi paid tribute to late firefighter Alessandro Marchi who he said had died “in service to the community”.

In an update on Wednesday, head of the Sicilian Civil Protection Salvo Cocina said there had been more than 350 fires on the island including 10 major ones which led to precautionary evacuations.

He said the fires had human causes – adding that firefighting has become a social and public order problem.

Meanwhile, in Spain residents have begun returning to their homes after wildfires broke out in the village of Almorox near Toledo, south of Madrid. Authorities said the fires were not yet under control and that some 890 hectares (2.200 acres) had been burned, although ongoing work had meant the perimeter of the fire had not grown.

Temperatures of at least 42C have been recorded in areas of Spain and the country’s biggest wildfire this year so far has been seen this week north of the capital in Guadalajara region.

More than 35,000 hectares have burned, leaving bleak images of destroyed landscapes, however authorities there say residents are now able to return to their homes.

Countries across Europe have seen record temperatures in recent months.

A report released in April by the Copernicus Climate Change Service found at least 95% of Europe saw “above average” annual temperatures in 2025 and identified Europe as the fastest-warming continent.

Wildfire-burnt area and fire emissions both reached record levels last year, the report said.

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