More than 360,000 people have been evacuated due to wildfires in France and Spain | Climate Crisis News

Officials in France and Spain are struggling to put out the fire, with teams lacking power and resources.

Flammable In parts of France and Spain it shows no sign of abating and has forced more than 360,000 people to leave their homes, after prolonged heatwaves fueled wildfires.

In France’s southwestern Gironde region, 55,000 people were evacuated overnight, officials said on Sunday. France is among the worst affected countries in Europe, with around 42,000 hectares (103,780 acres) in the Gironde alone already burnt in one of the biggest fires the country has endured since World War II. So far, about 250,000 people have been evacuated from the area.

The flame is heading for the famous Bordeaux wine port. Its mayor, Thomas Cazenave, said in the letter X that the city “is ready to receive all the evicted people who do not have the means to find housing”.

The fires in Europe have also raised questions about the effects of global warming.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said last June was the hottest month in Western Europe on record and the second hottest in the world. Both Germany and the UK broke temperature records for three straight days.

Firefighters in France and Spain are struggling to contain the blaze, and teams in other regions lack the power and resources to respond effectively. This has raised concerns about how authorities will deal with the wildfires, which are expected to continue to grow as temperatures rise.

Since the fire broke out on Tuesday, around 1,500 soldiers have been deployed by French authorities, along with 1,700 security personnel and 1,400 firefighters. Fighter jets have also been used to drop missiles.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday that five planes and two helicopters had been sent to France by the European Union.

Neighboring Spain has declared a state of emergency, with more than 116,000 people evacuated due to fires west of Madrid and in the eastern region of Valencia. Firefighters there found an elderly man dead in his car on Saturday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said around 130,000 hectares of land had already burned in the country this year, warning that there were “difficult times ahead”.