What to know about the historic wildfires in France and Spain

What to know about the historic wildfires in France and Spain 1 of 5 | A raging wildfire in southwest France forced the evacuation of 55,000 people overnight Sunday, bringing the total forced out of their homes to a staggering 220,000 in one region alone. Heavy machinery was used to cut back vegetation as firefighters continued to battle the blaze. More Videos 0 seconds of 46 secondsVolume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Zach Cregger talks 'Resident Evil' stunt 00:56 Subtitle Settings OffEnglish(US)_v Font Color White Font Opacity 100% Font Size 100% Font Family Arial Character Edge None Edge Color Black Background Color Black Background Opacity 50% Window Color Black Window Opacity 0% Reset WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25% 200%175%150%125%100%75%50% ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% Auto180p1080p720p540p360p270p180p 00:00 00:46 00:46 More Videos Close 2 of 5 | A raging wildfire in southwest France forced the evacuation of 55,000 people overnight Sunday, bringing the total forced out of their homes to a staggering 220,000 in one region alone, as flames crept ever closer to the wine region city of Bordeaux. 3 of 5 | Firefighters battle a wildfire in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, west of Madrid, Spain, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) 4 of 5 | Firefighters tackle a blaze as wildfires rage near Le Las, outside Bordeaux, France, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva) 5 of 5 | A De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400 Dash 8 operated by the French civil defense agency drops fire retardant as wildfires rage near Marcheprime, outside Bordeaux, France, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva) By Justin Spike and THOMAS ADAMSON Updated 3:16 PM MESZ, July 27, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit PARIS (AP) — heat waves and scant rainfall in Europe have contributed to historic wildfires in France and Spain that have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in one of the continent’s biggest evacuation efforts since World War II. Rising temperatures later this week could complicate efforts to battle the blazes that have scorched an area four times the size of Paris in southwestern France and are raging near Spain’s capital, Madrid. Climate data shows Europe is heating faster than anywhere else on earth. The continent has already faced extreme heat events multiple times this year. Firefighters in Spain have called the blazes so violent that they could not be tackled head on. But the first glimmer of hope emerged Monday in France that the spread of a giant fire in the southwestern Gironde region may have slowed. Europe’s above-average temperatures, with a prolonged heatwave in June, have contributed to drought conditions. Record-breaking temperatures in Western Europe compounded low rainfall levels as the extreme heat drew moisture from vegetation, creating abundant fuel that allows flames to spread faster and burn more intensely. France says monster fire that forced 220,000 people to flee has stopped growing 2 MIN READ Fire in Fontainebleau forest near Paris triggers evacuations; 10 still missing in Spanish wildfire 1 MIN READ Hundreds of firefighters battle wildfire in southern Spain that killed at least 12 1 MIN READ 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. France’s national meteorological service Météo-France said June was the hottest on record there, averaging 3.8 degrees Celsius (6.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, while rainfall was nearly 50% below average. Spain is used to forest fires in warmer months, but climate change has made its summers hotter and drier. That, combined with the decline in farming and industries that once used forest materials, has turned large swaths of wilderness into a tinderbox. While estimates vary, national and European Union authorities are reporting fires of record scope this year. The EU’s European Forest Fire Information System estimates that over 300,000 hectares (3,000 square kilometers or 1,160 square miles) have burned in France and Spain. France’s Interior Ministry says fires have swept across 115,000 hectares (1,150 square kilometers or 444 square miles) since January, the highest annual figure in the country’s modern records. Spain’s Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, said the 153,000 hectares (1,530 square kilometers or 591 square miles) burned this year is six times the amount that burned through the first half of 2025. Contributing to this year’s total was Spain’s largest and third-largest fires ever in just over a week, with a blaze in the rural terrain of Ávila west of Madrid burning over 50,000 hectares (500 square kilometers or 193 square miles). Earlier this month, 13 people died in a blaze in southeastern Almeria, Spain’s deadliest fire in recent memory. Over 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes in France and Spain in what the EU on Monday called “one of the biggest evacuation operations in Europe.” More than 250,000 people have been evacuated in France, with 220,000 of them in the southwestern region of Gironde. With France about to enter its peak August tourist season, Gironde authorities took steps to keep vacationers away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities. A total of 76,000 people have been evacuated in Spain while 30,000 others have been confined to their homes, the government said. 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. “No country should ever have to face a disaster of this scale alone,” Lahbib said. “To the people of France and Spain: Europe will stand with you until the fires are out.” The 27-nation bloc’s Copernicus satellite program is providing emergency authorities with up-to-date maps of fire risk. Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary. Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, and Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed. Justin Spike Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto THOMAS ADAMSON Adamson is a foreign reporter based in Paris for The Associated Press. He covers European politics, culture and style. He has reported across the continent in an over two-decade career. twitter mailto