Major wildfires continue to batter southern Europe, with the situation worsening due to strong winds and extreme temperatures exceeding 40°C in Italy, Spain and France. Three firefighters have lost their lives in recent days, two in France and one in Italy, as the flames force thousands of people to leave their homes across three countries simultaneously.
New evacuations in France
In southern France, firefighters are battling two large wildfires. In the Gironde region near Bordeaux, a blaze has burned 24,000 hectares in a popular tourist area. According to sources cited by Agence France-Presse, forestry maintenance work may have caused the fire.
At least 7,000 people were evacuated on Thursday, bringing the total number of residents and tourists forced to leave the area to 12,000. No casualties or destroyed homes have been reported so far, although conditions remain challenging for firefighters.
A second wildfire, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon in a field in the Var region, has burned almost 25,000 hectares and remains stable, according to prefect Simon Babre, who authorised 400 residents to return to their homes.
Temperatures above 40°C
In Italy, a firefighter was killed while battling flames in Sicily, where dozens of wildfires continue to burn across forests and scrubland, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.
Around 100 residents, along with 22 patients from a clinic in the centre of the island, were evacuated amid the extreme temperatures recorded in recent days.
“Six thousand personnel and 20 aerial assets are involved in firefighting operations,” said Sicilian regional president Renato Schifani, noting that almost 50 fires, down from 344 the previous day, were still burning across the island.
More than 160 wildfires were also recorded over the past 24 hours in Calabria, at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula.
Residents return in Spain
In Spain, most residents who were evacuated on Wednesday night following a wildfire about 70 kilometres southwest of Madrid were able to return home on Thursday, according to emergency services.
Authorities described the development as “very positive,” although the fire had not been fully brought under control during the early hours and several roads remained closed.
Spain’s most significant wildfire has been burning since last Thursday in Guadalajara province, around 100 kilometres north of Madrid, and has already consumed 320,000 hectares of forest.
With six weeks still remaining before the end of summer, 2026 already ranks as the second-worst year in the European Union over the past two decades in terms of area burned, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) analysed by Agence France-Presse.
Civil protection authorities in France, Spain and Italy remain on alert, with forecasts of continuing heatwave conditions in the coming days maintaining a heightened risk of new wildfires.
