France wildfires: More than 260,000 evacuated as heatwave looms

Thousands escape as wildfires close in

A mass evacuation of over 4,000 people was ordered from campsites, holiday villages and leisure parks around Lacanau, near the Atlantic coast, as flames closed in on the Bordeaux area.

President Emmanuel Macron described the blazes as the “most difficult situation” France has faced since the Second World War.

The mayor of Bordeaux, Thomas Cazenave, said he was preparing for “all eventualities” and that authorities were ready to “accommodate a large number of people should further evacuations be ordered”.

One fire was reported to be around nine miles (15km) from the periphery of Bordeaux, a city where air quality has deteriorated sharply.

France wildfires stretch firefighters to the limit

Some 2,000 firefighters have been deployed in the Gironde, where four of their colleagues have died in recent weeks, according to the national firefighters’ federation.

“The fire is like David against Goliath,” its spokesman, Eric Brocardi, said, as officials warned that unfavourable weather and this summer’s fourth heatwave would arrive by Wednesday.

"We are frightened about the impact on Bordeaux and the metropolitan area.:

Commander Rémi Lassoureille, leading the Gironde response

The crisis is not confined to France. In Spain, 63,000 people have been evacuated from their homes near Madrid, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling the fires “the most painful expression of the climate emergency”.

Britons who had travelled out during the recent run of record heat have described smoke-filled skies and near-empty streets.