Firefighters are struggling to contain wildfires raging in France and Spain
Nearly 270,000 people have been displaced by evacuation orders – see where the fires are burning
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from Bordeaux's suburbs overnight, with the number of people displaced in Spain rising to 70,000
The weather can bring the perfect conditions for a fire to take hold and spread and this is exactly what has happened this time, our lead weather presenter explains
One British couple on holiday in Bordeaux describe how ash covered the pool at their holiday rental and turned their feet black – share your story here
Edited by Craig Hoyle and Tinshui Yeung
The prefect of Landes says the situation in the area is "slightly less" critical than yesterday, as conditions are more humid on Saturday.
But embers are creating new hotspots hundreds of metres from the main fire in the area, Gilles Clavreul tells French broadcaster Ici.
"We are far from having the fire under control," he says.
French authorities have ordered the evacuation of towns in Bordeaux’s western suburbs in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The towns are in the possible path of the wildfire, our Paris correspondent reports, and include part of Mérignac, where the city’s airport is located.
Evacuees were seen resting in makeshift beds
The large hall has been set up with tables and chairs
Some were seen sitting outside
The evacuation order came through at around 03:00 local time (02:00 BST) on Saturday
A total of 59,488 people have been evacuated from areas of Madrid and Ávila because of wildfires, while more than 28,000 remain confined to their homes, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.
In its latest update, the ministry breaks down the number of people evacuated or confined to their homes.
In Ávila province:
In the Community of Madrid:
Justin Rowlatt
Climate editor
Wildfire burns near Lacanau, France, following a heatwave and water shortages
July is the heart of the Mediterranean wildfire season, so the fires in Spain and southern France are not unusually early. What is striking is the scale already reached.
Spain has burned far more land than at the same point last year, while France says significant fire activity began several weeks earlier than usual and the area burned is already well above normal.
Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average, and that rapid warming is making its summers hotter and, particularly in the south, drier.
Those conditions leave soil, trees and other vegetation with less moisture, creating the fuel in which wildfires can take hold. A spark is still needed – most often from human activity, usually accidental but sometimes deliberate, or from lightning.
Once a fire starts, extreme heat, dry vegetation and strong winds can help it spread faster, burn more intensely and become much harder to control.
How forests and landscapes are managed also matter: Accumulated vegetation and abandoned land can provide more fuel for fires.
But the European Environment Agency has said “climate change has increased forest fire risk across Europe”, with the greatest danger expected in southern Europe.
Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent, on holiday in France
Returning from a family holiday south of the French city of Biarritz, we headed north into a blanket of smoke with the sun glowing red – when it could be seen at all.
We drove through the acrid haze for more than three hours, keeping well inland, choosing the N10 rather than the A10.
There was still smoke in the air when we got to Poitiers, close to 200 miles from the heart of the fires.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says that 11 planes and helicopters have been sent to France and Spain from its firefighting fleet to help tackle the wildfires.
In a post on X, she explains that five planes and two helicopters from the rescEU fleet have been deployed in France while four planes are arriving in Spain on Saturday.
"My thoughts are with the firefighters who bravely battle the flames and with all those evacuated," she adds.
As the fires continue to burn across parts of France and Spain, the aftermath is becoming clear for some.
Evacuations are continuing for thousands, while homes have been left destroyed.
Damage to a house in the village of Burgohonfo, Avila province, as wildfires continue to rage in central Spain
A security officer helps to evacuate the village of Cadalso de los Vidrios in Madrid
Dozens of firefighters set up their equipment on a support line between the villages of Lacanau and Saint-Helene in the Bordeaux region
The aftermath of wildfires in the village of Villa del Prado, Madrid
A French foreign minister has told tourists not to cancel their travel plans but to keep an eye on updates as wildfires continue to rage in the country.
Éléonore Caroit, the minister for international partnerships, tells the BBC's Today programme that the fires are a "tragedy" and nearly 50,000 hectares have been burnt in France so far this summer.
She says the fires have been "significantly worse" than 2022 – France's worst year for wildfires.
Caroit says there are still entire areas of France, including Paris, which have not been impacted by the fires and tells tourists: "Please come to France and do not cancel your travel plans."
She says France's response to the wildfires has been boosted by its European Union membership, with additional resources being sent from across Europe.
This includes two water bombing carriers from Croatia, two water tractors from Portugal and two Black Hawk helicopters from Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Mary Litchfield
BBC Your Voice
Jessica Rowden was staying in Claouey, Lège-Cap-Ferret with her partner and five-year-old son, when they woke up on Thursday to find "smoke in the sky, local businesses closed and buses not running".
The family were advised to get ready to evacuate and headed to where Rowden's parents had been staying nearby, but found the roads gridlocked and the air quality deteriorating.
Rowden, her partner and son moved to a campsite in Rauzan as her parents headed to Bordeaux – but once again on Friday morning they found their campsite "filled with smoke" and were forced to drive north immediately.
"Our five-year-old son had already developed a cough," she tells the BBC. "The air quality is bad, we’re just worried."
"It’s days of worry, trying to translate the French newspapers.
"If we didn’t have Disneyland tickets booked we would be getting on the first ferry we could.
"My heart breaks for everyone still in the area with no clear end or outcome in sight."
A forest burns in Biscarrosse in southern France on Saturday
Wildfires have continued to spread across Europe as an exceptionally hot summer and dry conditions have created perfect conditions for fires to spread.
Earlier we reported that Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, with temperatures rising more than 0.5C each decade since the 1990s.
Here's a reminder of where major fires have broken out in Europe this summer.
France: Nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated in the south-west of the country in the Gironde and Landes regions.
Spain: A national emergency has been declared and at least 60,000 people have been evacuated as fires burn near the capital Madrid.
Italy: More than 350 fires – including 10 major blazes – broke out on the island of Sicily, the head of the Sicilian Civil Protection said on Wednesday, prompting evacuations.
Scotland: A major incident has been declared by emergency services as they continue to tackle a wildfire burning in the Cairngorms National Park that has been burning for 10 days.
Katie Williams
Live reporter
Smoke rises over the mountains near Madrid
Wildfires continue to rage in France and Spain, with hundreds of thousands of people being evacuated from their homes.
Almost 200,000 have been displaced in France alone, according to the country's Interior Ministry.
It comes after almost 60,000 were evacuated from towns in Bordeaux's western suburbs overnight – the latest in a series of evacuations affecting the Gironde and Landes regions.
Meanwhile, the figure has risen to more than 70,000 in Spain, according to news agency AFP and local media.
Addressing reporters this morning, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the priority was "saving lives" and protecting inhabited areas, but warned that "complex hours" lay ahead.
The BBC has been hearing from people in affected areas. One tourist who evacuated Bordeaux earlier this week says he can still smell the wildfires from 100 miles away. A BBC journalist holidaying in the region describes a "wall of orange flames" and says she had just 30 minutes to get out.
Weather conditions will be a factor in shaping the course of the fires going forward.
In France, the westerly wind is the main issue and is likely to strengthen later today before easing on Sunday, BBC Weather reports. In Spain, there is a chance of some rain this evening but it might not be enough to give any effects, they add.
Sergi Forcada Freixas
Reporting from Spain
Francisco Martín, the Spanish government's representative in the Madrid region, has just updated the number of people affected by the wildfires in central Spain.
He said around 70,000 people have now been evacuated because of the fires in Madrid and Ávila, while more than 20,000 others have been told to remain indoors.
Martín said the priority remains "saving lives and guaranteeing safe evacuations", adding that there have been no casualties so far.
He warned that further instructions could be issued in the coming hours, urging people to follow any guidance from the authorities "to the letter".
Tomos Morgan
Reporting from La Lande-de-Fronsac
The BBC's Tomos Morgan is cutting short a holiday to France as the fires continue.
We’ve spent a week in La Lande-de-Fronsac, an area around 80km (50 miles) from the hotspot of fires near Cap Ferret in the Gironde region of France.
It’s been clear blue skies every day – the sun shining high – today however, it could not have been more different.
A thick fog of smoke is layered across the area, the acrid smell of burning is leaving a bitter taste in our mouths… and giving us a headache.
It penetrated our house overnight, and this morning even our clothes even smelt smoky.
This area is a classic wine making region – awash with vineyards as far as the eye can see. There is one behind our house, but this morning we couldn’t see the end of the field such was the thickness of the fog.
So we’ve made the decision to head home to Wales a day early. Although we are not in any immediate danger, health-wise we would rather not risk sitting by the pool or walking around too long in this with two young children.
Around 98,000 hectares of land have burned across France since the start of the year, the country's interior ministry tells the BBC.
It adds that 40,000 hectares have been burnt in the Gironde region alone since January.
Nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated in the south-west of France due to the wildfires, the French Interior Ministry has said.
Around 57,000 people were evacuated overnight in Gironde, bringing the total number of evacuees in the region to 167,000.
A further 30,000 people have also been evacuated in the Landes region.
The total number of people evacuated in France is around 197,000, the ministry adds.
Elizabeth Rizzini
Lead weather presenter
There are gentle to moderate north-westerly winds expected in Spain today, becoming lighter tonight.
Then back to gentle to moderate winds on Sunday, but more northerly. The situation would be worse if it was a southerly wind and was bringing in drier, warmer air.
There is a chance of some rain this evening – but it might not be enough to give any effects.
It is forecast to be pretty dry after that and through the next few days.
Mary Litchfield
BBC Your Voice
A tourist who was in Biscarrosse with his family has described the scale of the fire near Bordeaux as "frightening".
"With the strength of the wind and the endless pine forest, it's hard to see an end to the fires," Spencer Randall says.
He is on holiday with his fiancée Andrea and two children, aged seven and 10. They have now evacuated to an area 100 miles east, he says, but they can "still smell the wildfires from here".
His family first arrived in Biscarrosse on Wednesday – the day after the fires started.
"We were getting used to the campsite and out on the lake when we smelt and saw smoke drifting across the reservoir," he says.
He describes making the decision to leave at 21:00 local time (20:00 BST), hoping to avoid being evacuated in the middle of the night.
He says the campsite was eventually evacuated at around 01:00.
"It's terrifying. It's quite strong winds fanning the flames, just terrifying," he says.
Joanna Kent
Reporting from her holiday in France
Smoke from wildfires spreading in the Cap Ferret peninsula is seen from the Arcachon bay in Arcachon, on Friday
BBC South's Joanna Kent was on holiday in the Cap Ferret peninsula with her family when she had to evacuate due to the wildfires on Thursday.
On the night the fire broke out we saw a wall of orange flames across the bay, a really worrying scene. The following morning we read it had doubled in size. We saw planes flying into the thick black smoke to drop water on the flames.
We went into the local town which was eerily quiet. When we got back, two van loads of police were at the site going to every tent, caravan and accommodation unit, telling people they had 30 minutes to get out.
A helicopter was circling in the sky above us, and the police watched as everyone scrambled to pack their belongings into their cars.
Most people were calm, but a few were clearly panicking, and some had abandoned tents and camping gear.
We joined a long queue of traffic of tourists evacuating and escaping the peninsula for Bordeaux.
I feel lucky that we were able to evacuate ahead of the main wave yesterday and really feel for the people in local communities whose homes and businesses are now at risk of being destroyed.
Spain's meteorological agency Aemet says the fire risk remains "at very high levels" in wide parts of the country, and "extreme" levels in the north-east and east.
But the risk is "lower than in previous days" in much of the west and centre of the country, it writes on X.
It has mapped the risk across the country, with the highest-risk areas in red, signifying "extreme" risk.
Sánchez pictured on a visit this morning
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says the priority is "saving lives" and protecting inhabited areas as wildfires continue to rage in Spain.
But he warned that "complex hours" lay ahead, adding that although temperatures have dropped, "we do not know exactly how the wind will develop, how strong it will be".
He made the remarks while visiting affected areas on Saturday.
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