French authorities are evacuating nearly 4,000 people from tourist sites on the Atlantic coast, including campsites and holiday villages around the resort of Lacanau. This precautionary measure comes as renewed winds and extreme heat are impacting efforts to control wildfires west of Bordeaux.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, described the wildfire emergency as the country's "toughest" situation "since the second world war." He warned that "the coming weeks will be tough and we have to hold out."
Rémi Lassoureille, a fire commander in the Gironde department, stated that the blaze, which has destroyed 42,000 hectares of forest, was "relatively under control." However, firefighters are concerned about a "potential flare-up of the fire on its north-west flank towards Lacanau," prompting the evacuations.
Across Europe, wildfires in France, Spain, and Italy have led to the evacuation of approximately 330,000 people over the past week. Spain is currently experiencing its fourth intense heatwave of the summer, with a new heatwave forecast to start on Wednesday.