Wildfires force mass evacuations across Southern Europe, thousands flee in France

Wildfires fueled by extreme heat and severe drought are ravaging southern Europe, forcing over 10,000 evacuations in the French Pyrenees and hundreds more in Spain and Greece. The crisis has disrupted the Tour de France, forcing officials like Pierre Regnault de la Mothe to ban spectators from the third stage to keep roads clear for emergency services. With temperatures forecast to hit 40C again, firefighters backed by EU aircraft are struggling to contain the blazes, which officials warn are starting weeks earlier than usual due to climate change.

Southern Europe wildfire evacuations

• ▪In Spain's eastern Castellón province, a wildfire spreading into the Sierra de Espadán national park forced the evacuation of approximately 500 people
• ▪In Greece, a forest fire near Thessaloniki set off blazes in two factories, prompting evacuation alerts for three suburbs and a facility housing 157 people with special needs
• ▪A wildfire in the French Pyrenees near Perpignan has burned over 4,600 hectares and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people from nearly 30 villages and towns

Climate change fire season

• ▪A June 2026 heatwave in France resulted in 2,025 excess deaths, representing a nearly 30 percent week-on-week increase in mortality
• ▪According to the Copernicus climate service, Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average
• ▪The World Weather Attribution group of scientists stated that the extreme temperatures recorded in Europe in June 2026 would have been virtually impossible without the climate crisis

Firefighting operations across regions

• ▪In central Portugal's Vouzela area, more than 1,200 firefighters, 400 vehicles, and 15 aircraft responded to a wildfire that burned 13,000 hectares
• ▪The European Union deployed four waterbombing aircraft from Cyprus and Sweden to assist French firefighting efforts near Perpignan

Human negligence fire causes

• ▪A 76-year-old man was arrested in Greece on suspicion of starting a factory-threatening wildfire through negligence by generating sparks with his vehicle
• ▪Greek fire department spokesperson Brigadier Ioannis Artopoios stated that 85 percent of wildfires in Greece are caused by negligence
• ▪A man was detained in Spain on suspicion of accidentally starting a wildfire near the Costa Brava coast while using an angle grinder for roadside work

Tour de France spectator ban

• ▪Tour de France organizers restricted the third stage's traditional caravan of sponsor vehicles and team motorcades to a minimum to keep roads clear for emergency services
• ▪French regional prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe banned spectators from the French territory of the third stage of the Tour de France due to active wildfires

Rising heatwave temperatures forecast

• ▪Temperatures are forecast to rise again to 40 degrees Celsius locally in parts of France, Spain, and Portugal, elevating the risk of additional wildfires
• ▪A combination of prolonged heat, exceptionally low humidity, and severe drought after nearly two months of scarce rainfall has left southern Europe highly vulnerable to wildfires