5,000 More People Evacuated From Homes In France As Forest Fires Hit Europe

Experts have warned of a 'heat apocalypse' in France, with approximately 5,000 more residents having been evacuated as wildfires continue to spread.

The nation has scrambled more water-bombing planes and hundreds more firefighters to combat spreading wildfires, which have been fed by hot swirling winds from a searing heatwave.

In the southwest of the country, thousands of people at risk of coming into the line of fire have been forced to flee their homes.

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More than 200 reinforcements have been added to the 1,500-strong force of firefighters battling night and day to contain the blazes which are devastating the Gironde region's tinder-dry pine forests and sending burning embers into the air, spreading the flames even further.

Over the past few days, more than 16,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in France, with more than 14,000 hectares (34,000 acres) of land destroyed by blazes in Gironde since last Tuesday (12 July).

Speaking to AFP, meteorologist Francois Gourand described the weather in the region as a 'heat apocalypse'.

Meanwhile, Spain reported a second fatality in two days as it battled wildfires.

The body of a 69-year-old sheep farmer was found today (Monday 18 July) in the same hilly area where a 62-year-old firefighter died a day earlier when he was trapped by flames in the northwestern Zamora province.

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More than 30 forest fires around Spain have forced the evacuation of thousands of people and blackened 85 square miles (220 square kilometres) of forest and scrub.

In both France and Spain, fierce heat is fuelling blazes, and forecasters warned of temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) today.

"I left my country under fire, literally under fire," Teresa Ribera, Spain's minister for ecological transition, said as she attended talks on climate change in Berlin.

She added that there were 'terrifying prospects still for the days to come' — after more than 10 days of temperatures over 40C, cooling only moderately at night.

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Hungary, Croatia and the Greek island of Crete have also been hit with wildfires in the past week.

Heatwaves and drought tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight. Experts warn climate change will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

The heat has spread to the UK, which has also been forecast temperatures in excess of 40C.

Scientists at the Met Office have said the prediction is a result of climate change, warning that the 40C figure 'could be as much as 10 times more likely in the current climate than under a natural climate unaffected by human influence'.

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Topics: World News, Weather, France

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey