A British pensioner who fears his wife, friends and neighbours were killed in the Spanish wildfires has told how he sheltered in an abandoned car with his cat to survive.
Malcolm Timbrell, 70, became separated from his wife Annette Kilgore, 69, and the rest of the group as flames surged through their home village of Bedar, in Almeria province, on Thursday.
Mr Timbrell and Ms Kilgore moved to Bedar after being shown the property when they appeared on the Channel 4 programme A Place in the Sun.
The couple had decided to flee by car but Mr Timbrell went back to get their two cats and when he tried to catch up with the rest of the group, saw they had left their cars and were trying to flee the flames on foot.
He told the BBC: “My wife and our other seven friends and neighbours – against me screaming at them not to – decided the only safe way was to walk out in front of the firewall.
“I’ve subsequently heard that that firewall was moving at 20 kilometres per hour, plus. They had no chance.”
Mr Timbrell said he and one of the cats managed to avoid the flames by moving into each abandoned car in turn before it was caught up in the fire.
A 93-year-old British woman has been confirmed to be among at least 13 people who have died as devastating wildfires swept through southern Spain.
The Andalusian government said the 93-year-old woman was taken to hospital on Friday after suffering burns to about 20% of her body and her death was confirmed on Sunday afternoon.
At least another four of the dead are thought to be British, after four bodies were found in a burnt-out car with its steering wheel on the right.
On Sunday it was reported that two British hikers had been found alive but badly burned.
The man and woman are thought to have suffered 40% burns, according to Spanish national broadcaster, RTVE.
The pair were discovered by a team of Civil Guards, who said they had already checked the area, but had a feeling that they should go back.
In an interview with RTVE, the Civil Guard officers said they found the two British people alive just as night was falling.
Sergeant Pedro Barre told the broadcaster: “That experience we accumulate over the years is what tells you: take another look, give it one last try, check again just in case.”
The pair are now said to be in a serious condition in hospital, although their lives are not believed to be in danger.
Spanish authorities believe all the victims were foreign tourists, who are thought to have attempted to escape on foot after apparently abandoning their vehicles and trying to flee through rugged terrain.
Antonio Sanz, head of Andalusia’s emergency services, previously said that authorities had completed post-mortem examinations and DNA samples were collected to identify them.
Spain has suffered frequent and severe heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40C.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the devastating wildfires in Spain.
“We are supporting British nationals affected and their families and remain in close contact with the Spanish authorities.”
Elsewhere in Europe a fire is raging in the historic and much-visited Fontainebleau forest south of Paris, prompting evacuations of some residential neighborhoods and disrupted train and highway traffic.
It was among several wildfires in western Europe as the region bakes under its third red-alert heat wave this year.
The Fontainebleau forest fire is unusual for its proximity to the French capital — about 70 kilometers (42 miles).
French President Emmanuel Macron said all necessary means were being deployed to fight the fire of "exceptional scale."
France is experiencing the peak of its third heat wave of the summer, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across western and central areas and around 37 C (98 F) in Paris.
Wildfires also burned in several locations across England as another heat wave — the third this year — brought hot, sunny and dry conditions.The Met Office said record heat waves since May have led to 2026 becoming the first year to record temperatures of 35 C (95 F) or higher on six separate days. That broke the previous record set in 1976 and 2020, when five days were recorded with such temperatures.
Natural England's fire severity index has put much of England at "very high" risk of wildfires, with some areas in southern England and the Midlands at "exceptional" risk.
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