Main Points
- French president Emmanuel Macron has called a crisis meeting focusing on uncontrolled wildfires that have forced more than 300,000 people to flee their homes
- With France about to enter its peak August tourist season, authorities in the Gironde region have taken steps to keep holidaymakers away
- A French official said uncontrolled fires were still headed toward Bordeaux, an urban centre of 265,000 people
- In Spain, prime minister Pedro Sánchez visited fire-hit areas in Avila, one of three central provinces affected by major blazes alongside Madrid and Toledo, where more than 45,000 hectares (111,000 acres) have burned
Key Reads
- What is a ‘fire cloud’, and how have they worsened wildfires in Europe?
- Macron calls crisis meeting as wildfire threatens Bordeaux
- Irish in Europe: have you been impacted by wildfires? Share your story
Macron holds crisis meeting
French President Emmanuel Macron is currently holding a crisis meeting to address the wildfires that are raging across France.
A huge fire outside Bordeaux has forced the evacuation of 220,000 people and has burned 42,000 hectares, making it of record size.
Some 84 firefighters have been injured as they try to contain the blazes.
Other fires are still burning elsewhere in France, including in the regions of Hautes-Alpes, Haute-Corse, Var, and Landes.
Fuelled by dry conditions and high winds, wildfires have burned up a record amount of land in France this year.
