Devastating European wildfires in maps - and how they're being tackled
Severe wildfires are ravaging parts of France and Spain following record-breaking summer heatwaves, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate. The fires have become so intense they are generating their own localized weather systems, including fire thunderstorms.
Why it matters
The increasing frequency and intensity of such climate-driven disasters pose significant threats to infrastructure, public safety, and the environment.
Devastating European wildfires in maps - and how they're being tackled
Image source, AFP By Tom Bennett and the Visual Journalism team Wildfires are tearing through France and Spain, forcing more than 300,000 people to evacuate their homes.
France has seen its worst wildfires in two decades, while officials in the Spanish capital Madrid say the fires are the worst the region has ever experienced.
It follows a sweltering summer of heatwaves across Europe that have seen temperatures soar above 40C (104F) in many places.
Three separate wildfires in the mountains outside Madrid have together burned about 297 sq miles (770 sq km), authorities estimate - an area larger than Madrid itself.
In France, the worst affected area is Gironde, around the city of Bordeaux, where more than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes.
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