Satellites show wildfire damage near Bordeauxpublished at 13:22 BST

13:22 BST

By Thomas Spencer

BBC Verify has been looking at satellite imagery that shows the spread of wildfires west of the city of Bordeaux in France’s Gironde region.

Satellite imagery taken on 26 July reveals a large area of countryside has been burnt. Data from the EU’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite’s burned area detector tool also shows swathes of scorched land close to the coast.

Data compiled by Google Maps, external also reflects the large area that is estimated to have been affected by the Gironde wildfire with major roads closed in its wake.

Another online tool, the French reporting app Feux de Foret, external, is also tracking the fires that have led to more than 200,000 people having to leave their homes.

Elizabeth Rizzini
Lead weather presenter

Image source, Getty Images

As in France, high pressure will dominate in Spain meaning dry, settled and increasingly hot conditions, favourable for more wildfires to develop and for the current fires to stay burning.

There could be some isolated showers and thunderstorms on Thursday across eastern Spain and the far north but other than that it will stay dry throughout the week.

By Saturday there is a greater chance of a few showers for central and eastern areas but again they will be localised.

Temperatures will rise further over the next few days across the interior of the peninsula into the high 30s or low 40s.

As in France, the winds will remain light for most under the area of high pressure, although a keen easterly breeze could affect the Costa del Sol.

There are still likely to be localised effects within the regions affected by the wildfires, which can also generate their own winds.

Sergi Forcada Freixas
Reporting from Spain

Image source, Reuters

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has visited the emergency command centre in Vall d’Uixó, near Valencia, where a wildfire remains out of control.

Sánchez warns “difficult and complex hours” still lie ahead and that temperatures are expected to rise in the coming days.

“I ask for understanding and for everyone across the country to exercise the utmost caution and prevention,” he says

Sánchez adds that around 150,000 hectares have been burned across Spain so far this year, six times the area destroyed by wildfires at the same point in 2025.

Earlier, Sánchez said "urgent solutions" were needed to build a safer Spain that is prepared for future challenges. He also unveiled €10m (£8.6m) in funding for new climate shelters, including for educational centres.

Climate change allows wildfires to spread faster and burn more fiercelypublished at 12:46 BST

12:46 BST

Justin Rowlatt
Climate editor

Image source, Getty Images

The question is no longer why has so much land already burned this fire season, but why these fires have become so fierce and difficult to control.

Part of the answer lies in the sequence of weather this year.

An unusually wet winter encouraged abundant vegetation growth. A dry spring and early summer, followed by repeated heatwaves, then dried much of that vegetation into tinder.

Grasses, leaves and small branches can ignite quickly, while the prolonged heat has also drawn moisture from larger shrubs, trees and deeper forest litter, allowing fires to burn hotter and for longer.

Strong and shifting winds can help flames spread unpredictably. But large fires can also generate their own winds. The intense heat creates an updraft that draws in more air at ground level and can fan the fire further.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent and while climate change did not provide the sparks that started these fires, it is making the hotter, drier conditions that allow fires to spread faster and burn more fiercely more likely.

Image source, Jo Barnes

Jo Barnes and her family had a near miss when a wildfire near the town of Cotignac in southern France came within metres of her house.

They first saw smoke on Tuesday and were initially told by emergency services that the fire was under control, but by the evening it had changed direction and rapidly moved towards her property.

"A wall of orange flames came roaring up over the hill," Barnes tells BBC News, forcing them to leave their house quickly and stay away for four days.

"On Friday afternoon the fire came back to our area... within 10 metres of the back of our house, we have a gas tank here, it was all very dramatic."

She describes how the family returned on Saturday afternoon "fearful about what we would find", but luckily their house was intact despite the surrounding hillside being burnt and completely black.

The town of Cotignac was also undamaged by the fire, with people now just trying to get back to normal, Barnes adds.

Elizabeth Rizzini
Lead weather presenter

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

In France, weather conditions will not help contain the wildfires and may worsen the situation.

High pressure remains dominant for much of the week which means dry, settled conditions and little rain, but possibly some very isolated showers and thunderstorms.

There have been a few showers overnight which have made little difference to the wildfires on a weakening weather front. It'll be dry across the whole of France by this afternoon with temperatures in the Bordeaux region in the high twenties in Celsius.

But it will get hotter. Temperatures by Tuesday in the west will be in the low to mid 30s, the low 40s being possible by Wednesday. Brisk winds fan the flames and make wildfires worse.

On Wednesday into Thursday there could be a few scattered showers across central France but the dry and hot theme continues until Friday.

There may well be more showers on Saturday across central and southern France but many places will remain completely dry.

While the winds remain light through the week they will shift in direction as the area of high pressure moves around and this could help to spread the fires in slightly different directions.

There will be localised effects too, including the fact that wildfires can generate their own winds when huge fire thunderstorm clouds form, which are known as pyrocumulonimbus clouds.

Image source, Reuters

Specialist aircraft are being used to battle wildfires in France, dropping fire retardant on vegetation and land where the wildfires are burning.

The retardant works by depleting the fire of oxygen and slowing the rate of fuel combustion.

It is usually sprayed around a wildfire on vegetation and land that is fire-prone to stop the flames from spreading to that area.

The repeated use of the bright substance also acts as a visual aid for pilots and firefighters, as after a few days it can fade due to sun exposure.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

If you're just joining us, here's a round-up of the latest developments as firefighters continue to tackle large-scale wildfires in France and Spain.

France

• One wildfire is now just nine miles (15 km) from the south of Bordeaux, with the flames so intense they have created their own thunderstorms
• The Bordeaux fire did not worsen overnight, our correspondent Hugh Schofield reports - the winds eased and rainfall in some areas means the ground is damp

• President Emmanuel Macron is holding an emergency cabinet meeting, with another heatwave expected to make tackling the wildfires more difficult
• One Brit living near Bordeaux tells the BBC her home is like "a warzone", while one resident in the city says it is blanketed in a "thick smoke haze"

Spain

• Elderly people who were evacuated from a town to the west of Madrid are being allowed to return to their homes - a total of 60,000 people were forced to flee from the region

• Although the Madrid wildfire has slowed its advance on the Spanish capital, officials say it remains "active and uncontrolled"
• A smaller blaze is also spreading near Valencia in the east of the country

While Spanish authorities struggle to contain a massive wildfire in the Madrid region, another blaze has broken out in the east, near Valencia.

About 15,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal town of Vall d'Uixó, where an estimated 6,500 hectares have been scorched.

As Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visits the area, one government official has warned that weather conditions are expected to worsen.

Image source, GETTY

People in Bordeaux are starting to wear masks as a "thick smoke haze" is blown into the city, a resident tells the BBC.

Pierre Pourquery says there was calm in the city, but people are now feeling "anxious and fearful" as the wildfire gets closer to Bordeaux.

He lives on the east side of Bordeaux, and invited friends to come and stay with him who evacuated from the west of the city which is closer to the blaze.

Pourquery says the main danger for people is the toxicity of the smoke and that some people are finding it difficult to breathe.

President Macron is currently holding a crisis cabinet meeting in response to the wildfires ravaging parts of southern France.

A huge fire in the Gironde region has forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people and the blaze is now around just around nine miles (15 km) away from the south of Bordeaux.

Rain and favourable wind conditions meant the fires did not worsen overnight.

However, temperatures are set to increase again to around 40C later this week according to forecasts from France's weather office.

Image source, Getty Images

The wildfire in the Gironde region of France will likely burn "for many weeks" and could take months to fully extinguish, a senior official involved in the response has warned.

The intensity of the fire will decrease but it will take time to treat all affected areas, says Lieutenant Colonel David Annotel, spokesman for France's National Federation of Firefighters.

With another heatwave forecast this week, Annotel says the conditions become "favorable again for the fire and unfavorable for us".

Wildfires burning to the west of Madrid remain "active and uncontrolled" despite slowing their advance towards Madrid, regional officials say.

The local government in Madrid has urged residents to be "extremely cautious" as the fire is still active.

Madrid's regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso has praised the work of hundreds of firefighters tackling the blazes and risking their lives.

"We have no words to thank them for their work," she says.

Image source, EPA/Shuttershock

Spain

Wildfires have been burning in the Madrid region, forcing over 60,000 people to flee their homes.

A new wildfire is also spreading in the eastern region of Valencia, where officials fear weather conditions are intensifying.

France

France has been one of the worst-affected countries, with 42,000 hectares burnt in the south-west of the country, making it one of the largest fires since World War Two.

Firefighters are currently battling to contain a wildfire in the Gironde region, near the city of Bordeaux.

Italy

More than 400 people in Italy were evacuated by sea yesterday as a wildfire swept through parts of the southern Adriatic coast, including the province of Puglia.

A wildfire was also burning near Torretta, outside Palermo on the island of Sicily, on Sunday.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

A Brit living near Bordeaux says her community has "lost so much" and felt like a warzone due to the ongoing wildfire in the region.

Rachel Hanberry says her beachfront home in Biscarrose Plage, south-west of Bordeaux, is located next to the town's evacuation point.

"Everyone came here on Thursday night," she tells BBC 5 Live. "It felt like we were in a warzone, [there were] people with emergency blankets around their shoulders."

"People who had nowhere to go. We offered our home to people," she says.

She says the community has "lost so much", adding: "The stress and trauma that you feel as someone living here is immense."

Have you been affected by the fires? Get in touch here.

Helen Willetts
Lead weather presenter

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Wildfires are sustained by dry and warm weather with strong winds adding to the danger, moving the fires very quickly.

However, wildfires can also create their own winds and weather, like a pyrocumulonimbus cloud which is essentially a thunderstorm created by a very intense wildfire, as seen near Bordeaux.

When a large fire burns, it releases huge amounts of heat. This heat makes the air above the fire rise rapidly, carrying smoke, ash and water vapour high into the atmosphere.

As the air rises, it cools and the water vapour condenses into a cloud. If the fire is powerful enough and the atmosphere is unstable, that cloud can grow into a towering cumulonimbus, the same type of cloud associated with thunderstorms.

Therefore, if pyrocumulonimbus clouds become large enough, they too can produce lightning, which can then start new fires.

The winds within these clouds, like in thunderstorms, are more unpredictable and can spread out in all directions. They can also occasionally bring hail and rain.

Scientists sometimes describe these clouds as a fire-generated thunderstorm because the fire itself provides the energy needed to build the cloud.

Image source, Reuters

Top of the agenda for leaders in France and Spain today is addressing the wildfires which have caused displacement and destruction in their countries.

Just moments ago, French President Emmanuel Macron began a crisis meeting to discuss the country's response to wildfires, with one blaze around nine miles (15 km) from the south of Bordeaux.

Speaking on Saturday, Macron vowed to rebuild and repair damage from fires, adding that his government would "be there for as long as is needed".

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is visiting the areas affected by Castellón forest fires including Vall d'Uixó, a town near Valencia where as many as 6,500 hectares have been scorched.

We'll bring you the latest from both leaders as soon as we have it.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

The situation in Marcheprime, a town in France's Gironde region, is "reassuring" following a burst of rain overnight, the local mayor has said.

Speaking on France Inter radio, Manuel Martinez says the fire in the area is stable after it rained for "about an hour" last night, making the ground damp.

He adds that the town remains vigilant due to the possibility of winds picking up again.

Image source, Reuters

Another heatwave in France is set to complicate efforts to tackle the blaze near Bordeaux, with weather forecasts predicting highs of up to 40C this week.

Eric Brocardi, spokesman for the National Firefighters Federation of France, says that in order to control the fire, it would need to rain "heavily for three days".

Hadja Lahbib, the EU's commissioner for crisis management, warns that more wildfires are likely as the summer goes on, adding: "Forecasters are predicting, unfortunately, another heatwave so we can expect other wildfires."

She also tells the BBC that damage from ongoing wildfires in Europe will likely surpass previous records.

"Last year, one million hectares burned during the summer and so we are expecting to face another historical, sad record because the season has started earlier in the year," Lahbib says.

Residents are beginning to make their way home in parts of the Madrid region that were affected by the recent wildfire.

Traffic queues are forming near Cenicientos, a village in the south-west of the region, while elderly people have been told they can return to nearby San Martin de Valdeiglesias this morning.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images