Temperatures are set to soar again in France and Spain, once again boosting the threat from wildfires that have already forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.
In Spain, weather agency AEMET said temperatures were expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday in at least six regions on orange alert, the second-highest level.
In France, temperatures in the southwest, hit by devastating fires, were expected to rise from around 33 C on Tuesday to peak at 42 C, according to Meteo France, while dry winds from the southwest in the morning and from the west in the afternoon were likely to stoke flames.
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Some people have begun returning home around the Spanish cities of Madrid and Avila, while French forecasters hope southwestern France could be offered some reprieve from Thursday due to by thunderstorms, lower temperatures and increased humidity.
But more than 360,000 people remain evacuated from their homes due to the blazes, which have reduced forests to scorched wastelands and killed large amounts of wildlife in the region.
In Bordeaux, where The Independent is on the ground, French firefighters kept a major blaze west of stable - but officials warned it was far from over yet.
"As we speak, the situation is stable but the fire is still not under control," firefighter commander Matthieu Jomain told reporters. "We remain vigilant of course today, considering the forecast weather conditions, with a new rise in temperatures and higher wind speeds in the afternoon."
At least one man has been killed in Spain and dozens of others have been injured, including at least 68 firefighters in France.
Government officials from both countries have commented on the historic nature of the fires, with Madrid’s regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso describing it as “the worst fire in the history of the region”.
“The fires which are hitting our country have reached a level that has never been seen before,” French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X on Saturday.
Lecornu promised that more than 1.5 million face masks would be provided as even areas unaffected by the worst of the blaze saw air quality deteriorate and smoke spread.
Below we look at the areas affected and evacuated as a result of the wildfires.
France
The entirety of the Cap-Ferret peninsula has been cleared as the wildfires spread throughout the Gironde region, burning in Le Porge and Saumos.
The fires appeared to be advancing towards the French city of Bordeaux after the flames continued to spread, with several suburban regions on the city’s outskirts evacuated on Saturday morning.
This included the evacuation of large parts of Bordeaux’s suburbs, including the areas of Le Haillan, Eysines and Merignac.
Several companies on the outskirts of the historic city of Bordeaux closed their operations preventively as the flames went as close as 15 km (9 miles) from the metropolitan area.
French officials told Sky News on Sunday that they are considering a total evacuation of the city of Bordeaux – the sixth largest city in the country – if needed.
Local prefect Sophie Broca described the fast-spreading blaze throughout Gironde as an “XXL fire”.
Another major fire began further along the coast near the town of Biscarrosse in the Landes region on Thursday afternoon with several of the surrounding areas also evacuated for safety.
The French army has also been drafted in to help with the crisis as the inferno showed no signs of slowing down.
More than 220,000 people have been evacuated across France as it is experiencing worsening drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages.
Hundreds of evacuees, who included holidaymakers and local residents, left on specially chartered ferries.
In Lanton, also in the southwestern area of France ravaged by wildfires, volunteers carrying buckets of water have been trying to help protect their village.
"It’s hard, really, very hard, because we don’t have many resources. We try to help people however we can, with the little we have," local pastry chef Jonathan Segalas-Talous, 29, said on Tuesday.
"We’ve lived here for years, and we want to stay. So, we do everything we can, whatever means we have to help, we use. We help."
But from this Thursday onwards, danger levels in southwestern France appear likely to decrease thanks to some thunderstorms, lower temperatures and increased humidity, Meteo France said.
Spain
The government of Spain previously declared a national emergency as the worst of the fires burned close to the country’s capital of Madrid, which is home to 6.8 million people.
Regional president Ayuso said that conditions had been made worse by a combination of high temperatures, wind and the merging of blazes.
But authorities now say the situation in the central provinces of Avila and Madrid has improved.
Some of the 70,000 people that had been evacuated from 15 towns around Madrid and Avila were beginning to return to their homes, interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said late on Tuesday.
But in eastern Castellon, where 10,000 evacuated residents have been unable to return home, the blaze remains out of control, after burning more than 10,000 hectares as weather conditions triggered several flare-ups.
One man has died in Manises, near the Spanish city of Valencia, the country’s interior ministry has said, after he was found in a car in a ravine hundreds of kilometres away from the severe wildfires spreading near Madrid.
Spain’s health minister Monica Garcia warned people to be mindful of the air quality across Madrid as she advised residents to stay indoors and pay special attention to vulnerable people.
The impact on wildlife in Spain has also been severe. Highlighting the devastation of the wildfire on the countryside and wildlife, Reuters drone footage from El Tiemblo, in Spain's Avila province, near Madrid, showed charred deer carcasses in a forest burnt to ashes.
Other areas impacted by wildfires include parts of Scotland where a major incident was declared following a blaze in Cairngorms National Park, with smoke drifting as far as Aberdeen nearly 150 miles away.
Parts of Italy and Tunisia have also been affected.
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