About 12,000 people have already been evacuated due to the large-scale forest fires in the Gironde region of southwestern France, and for the purpose of shelter, the authorities are preparing to move another 8,800 residents to safe places. BBC informs about this.
Local governor Sophie Brokas said that the fire has already completely destroyed more than 2,400 hectares of land in the surrounding areas of Arcachon Bay. The majority of those evacuated are visitors in camps on the Lege-Cap-Ferret peninsula, and the latest evacuations are carried out from the camp areas of the village of Claway, as part of preventive measures. According to official data, there are no injuries or victims, but a number of highways have been closed, and firemen continue to fight against high temperatures and strong winds.
The wave of fires has also spread in Spain and Italy in recent days. More than 350 fires were recorded in Sicily, 10 of which were large, as a result of which precautionary evacuations were carried out. One of the local firefighters was killed during the firefighting operations, and another was taken to the hospital. In Spain, as a result of the fires that broke out near Toledo, about 890 hectares of territory were burned, although the further spread of the fire was prevented. At the same time, the biggest fire of the current year in the Guadalajara region has already destroyed more than 35 thousand hectares.
Against the backdrop of high temperatures in Europe, the "Copernicus" climate change service reminds that the continent continues to be the fastest-warming region in the world, and the areas burned as a result of forest fires have reached a record level in 2025.
