French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday as wildfires close in on the south-western city of Bordeaux, which is home to about 850,000 people. Mayor Thomas Cazenave said there are no plans to evacuate the city’s population, but the fire is currently about 15km (9 miles) from the city.

Heatwave and Historic Fire Conditions

Another heatwave is set to complicate efforts to tackle the expanding blaze; Weather forecasts predict temperatures could spike to 40C in some areas from Tuesday, increasing the difficulty of firefighting operations. France’s main fire in the Gironde region has created an historic “pyrocumulonimbus”—a giant fire thunderstorm fueled by its own winds and lightning, according to the National Firefighters Federation of France (FNSPF).

“We don’t know how the blaze will spread, the fire front is constantly shifting; we cannot fight it directly,” said FNSPF spokesman Eric Brocardi, who described the situation as a “David-versus-Goliath” scenario. He added that heavy rain for three days would be needed to control the fire, or firefighters would have to steer it toward a place where it can die down on its own, like the sea.

Widespread Impact Across France and Spain

Wildfires have raged across Europe over the past week, primarily in France and Spain, where more than 330,000 people have been evacuated across both countries, and About 42,000 hectares have been burnt in the south-west of France, in one of the largest forest fires since World War Two. Since the start of the year. About 98. 000 hectares have been scorched; In total, more than 220,000 people have been evacuated in the south-west of the country.

Meanwhile, firefighters in Spain are battling a new blaze near the eastern coastal city of Valencia, where around 15,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the fire was advancing slowly. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for “a major public pact on the climate emergency” during a visit to the fire zone in Ávila province, west of Madrid. He also said “difficult hours lie ahead.”

Spain’s King Felipe VI said the wildfires had caused “incalculable” damage to the country’s natural heritage as he toured an emergency shelter in Villamanta; According to Spain’s minister for ecological transition, Sara Aagesen, around 77,000 hectares have been affected by the fires. She added that the wildfire in the Ávila region is the largest in the country’s recent history.

Personal Stories of Evacuation

Among those affected is Olga Congacha, 50, who had to flee her village of Robledo de Chavela, west of Madrid, while she described feeling “panicked” when told to leave her home and said she was unsure whether to cry or what to do. Returning briefly on Sunday to get medicine, she found the streets deserted and her house covered in ash. Authorities said winds were pushing the wildfires near Madrid to the south and away from the capital, but more villages have been evacuated in the path of the blaze. More than 90,000 people have been evacuated from the regions around Madrid and Ávila.

Macron said on Saturday that France would “rebuild” and his government would “be there for as long as is needed.” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the situation remained “very unfavourable” and the fire was “moving erratically” toward the city of Bordeaux. France’s fire chief said the situation remains unpredictable and challenging for emergency services, with no clear path to fully extinguishing the blaze.