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Europe is continuing to battle a series of devastating wildfires as the continent faces more sweltering conditions and worsening droughts, with thousands forced to flee their homes.
In France, authorities said a further 100 residents and holidaymakers evacuated from around the town of Luglon in the southwestern Landes department on Saturday as a fire that broke out on Thursday continued to burn.
In an update on Saturday morning, the Landes Prefecture said the blaze had burned through around 1,580 hectares so far and that it was “particularly active” to the southeast of Luglon, close to the village of Garein.
“In total, 550 firefighters are currently mobilized to fight the spread of the fire. Air resources will resume their rotation,” it added.
In Germany’s Eifel region, a major fire has led to the evacuation of at least 1,800 people from Hurtgenwald, where some 1,400 firefighters have been battling flames.
The blaze is believed to be the largest forest fire in the history of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Meanwhile, German firefighting reinforcements have been called in to assist their Belgian counterparts, who are fighting another fire in the Fagnes natural park, close to the border between the two nations.
The blaze began on Friday and has burned through at least 16 square kilometres of forest, authorities said.
Around 1,000 people have also been evacuated in Spain’s northeastern Aragon region, where a fire that has ravaged more than 15,000 hectares continues to burn. However, firefighters say they have stopped its spread towards population centres, and weather forecasts in the area suggest temperatures could soon drop, with some light rain also possible.
Greece is also on high alert as severe winds across parts of the nation have raised the risk of fires breaking out.
More than 50 agricultural and forest fires have already erupted in the last 24 hours, although most have been contained, according to the fire service.
Eastern Europe
In Croatia, emergency services are fighting a wildfire on the island of Dugi Otok, where more than 100 firefighters and two water bombing planes are in action.
240 firefighters and three planes were able to bring another fire on the Peljesac peninsula under control on Friday.
Serbian authorities said on Friday evening that they were fighting with 25 forest fires, one of which they said had devastated 25 square kilometres of land in the Deliblatska national park near Belgrade.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday afternoon that Europe was on “high wildfire alert” and that there was increasing pressure on Eastern European nations.
She added that the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation satellites were “already supporting mapping operations” in Spain, Albania, Greece, France, Germany, and Serbia, and that the bloc’s Civil Protection Mechanism was “there when a country calls.”