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Morning opening: 'Coming weeks will be tough,' Macron warns, as France enters new heatwave amid fires
Jakub Krupa
The return of searing temperatures, from today in France and tomorrow in Spain, will complicate efforts to fight massive wildfires raging in the Bordeaux region and a number of sites in Spain.
On a visit to a crisis centre in Bordeaux, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, warned:
“The coming weeks will be tough and we have to hold out.”
Over the past week, the gigantic blaze in the region has ravaged 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres), forced 220,000 people to flee and destroyed 240 houses. Such is its size and intensity, it has created a rare pyrocumulonimbus cloud, packing lightning.
But as of Tuesday morning, it remained stable for the second night in a row, which offers hope that firefighters will be able to make further progress before the new heatwave complicates their efforts.
Macron confirmed that a forest fire in nearby Landes – which had forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people – was now under control. But he warned it “remains virulent and we must be extremely cautious over the next few hours and the coming days”.
Spain has one crucial day to tackle the wildfires before weather conditions worsen again.
Ahead of the new heatwave, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez told his fellow citizens: “We face difficult hours, complex hours.”
About 60,000 people have been forced to flee in Spain and 220,000 in France, often with just minutes’ notice. Hundreds were also evacuated from Italy.
The fires in Spain have affected an area of 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) – nearly the size of New York City – according to authorities.
Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, officially declared that a heatwave, the fourth of the summer, would begin on Wednesday, lasting until “at least” Sunday.
I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Tuesday, 28 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
'Is this how the world ends?' Tourists caught up in wildfires speak to the Guardian
Joe Pinner and Jane Clinton
Tourists caught up in the wildfires spoke to us about their experiences.
Patrick, 77, was at a beach in Arcachon on the south-west coast of France on Thursday when he noticed the sky getting darker, and a “great billowing pall of black smoke” developing.
“It was the beginning of a slightly otherworldly experience,” he said.
He and his wife were forced to hitchhike 42 miles (69km) back to Bordeaux, where they were staying on holiday, after all trains were cancelled due to an electrical fault which had nothing to do with the fire.
The couple entered a bike shop and asked for a piece of cardboard, on which Patrick wrote “Bordeaux SVP. Urgence!”.
They walked about a mile out of town to a roundabout and stuck their thumbs out, hitching a ride within five minutes. That took them halfway, until they were picked up by the owner of a chain of local coffee shops who was on route to Bordeaux to collect his wife, who was stranded because of the cancelled trains.
It was only after getting back safely to Bordeaux, and watching the news unfold, that the severity of the fires hit them.
“We realised that the two people who had given us lifts lived in areas where houses were burned and tens of thousands of people were being evacuated,” he said. “I hope they are both OK.”
He described the “chilling feeling” of seeing life on the beach seemingly going on as usual whilst smoke gathered in the skies above.
“My main memory is how bizarre it was to watch people enjoying holidays on the beach while a major catastrophe was unfolding in full view, not far away. Is this how the world ends?”
Firefighters tackle blazes in south-western France - in pictures
4,000 people evacuated from campsites in Lacanau near Bordeaux
But it’s not all good news: up to 4,000 people have been evacuated from campsites in Lacanau near Bordeaux in south western France as part of a “precautionary” move.
“Due to weather conditions (heatwave) and to facilitate emergency operations, the Prefect has ordered the preventive evacuation of campsites in Lacanau, as well as group tourist residences and holiday villages,” the Lacanau town hall said on its Facebook.
It added there are currently no plans for further evacuations.
Progress in fighting fires near Madrid 'reasonably positive,' minister says
Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, struck a similar tone, telling the broadcaster TVE this morning that progress over recent hours had been “reasonably positive”.
Just like Ayuso, he also paid tribute to the work of firefighters deployed in the region.
Situation near Madrid 'gradually improving' leaving authorities 'more optimistic', regional president says
Madrid’s regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso said this morning that the wildfires situation is “gradually improving” and allows authorities to be a bit “more optimistic,” as she thanked the emergency services for their work.
But the central government’s delegation to Madrid cautioned that the fire was still not under control, with more progress needed today before the expected fourth heatwave hits the area.
Race against time to contain wildfires in France and Spain - The Latest
Ajit Niranjan
Firefighters in France and Spain are facing another day battling wildfires that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being evacuated, with another heatwave expected to hit this week.
French authorities have said this year’s wildfires, particularly the Gironde fire near the south-western city of Bordeaux, are ‘completely exceptional’, with more than 116,000 hectares of forest and vegetation burned since the beginning of the year, compared with 70,000 in total last year.
For our “The Latest” podcast, Lucy Hough speaks to Europe environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan about what it means for the continent.
France in 'a race against time' before fourth heatwave hits
France was also in “a race against time” to control wildfires before another heatwave this week, said Eric Brocardi, a fire service spokesperson.
Weather forecasters have said temperatures could reach 40C (104F) is some parts of the country from Tuesday.
This would complicate efforts to control the wildfire in Gironde in south-west France, which the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, described as “extremely intense and unpredictable … generating its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area”.
'Degraded' air quality in area affected by blazes
As firefighters continue to battle the blazes, there is also some concern about the air quality in the affected region.
France’s health agencies warned that the air quality in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region covering Gironde is “degraded” with fine particulate matter way above the limits.
Residents were told to keep doors and windows closed, cover vents with damp clothes, and turn off ventilation systems.
3.5 million filtering FFP2 masks will be delivered to the region by Wednesday.
Morning opening: 'Coming weeks will be tough,' Macron warns, as France enters new heatwave amid fires
Jakub Krupa
The return of searing temperatures, from today in France and tomorrow in Spain, will complicate efforts to fight massive wildfires raging in the Bordeaux region and a number of sites in Spain.
On a visit to a crisis centre in Bordeaux, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, warned:
“The coming weeks will be tough and we have to hold out.”
Over the past week, the gigantic blaze in the region has ravaged 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres), forced 220,000 people to flee and destroyed 240 houses. Such is its size and intensity, it has created a rare pyrocumulonimbus cloud, packing lightning.
But as of Tuesday morning, it remained stable for the second night in a row, which offers hope that firefighters will be able to make further progress before the new heatwave complicates their efforts.
Macron confirmed that a forest fire in nearby Landes – which had forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people – was now under control. But he warned it “remains virulent and we must be extremely cautious over the next few hours and the coming days”.
Spain has one crucial day to tackle the wildfires before weather conditions worsen again.
Ahead of the new heatwave, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez told his fellow citizens: “We face difficult hours, complex hours.”
About 60,000 people have been forced to flee in Spain and 220,000 in France, often with just minutes’ notice. Hundreds were also evacuated from Italy.
The fires in Spain have affected an area of 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) – nearly the size of New York City – according to authorities.
Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, officially declared that a heatwave, the fourth of the summer, would begin on Wednesday, lasting until “at least” Sunday.
I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Tuesday, 28 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
