Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes as wildfires continue to burn across southern Europe, with firefighters battling major blazes in France, Spain, Portugal and Greece after weeks of extreme heat.

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More than 20,000 hectares of land have been scorched across the region, while officials have warned that rising temperatures and strong winds could worsen conditions in the coming days. Emergency crews remain on high alert as new fires continue to break out.

France battles growing Pyrenees blaze

One of the largest fires is burning in the foothills of the French Pyrenees near the Spanish border, where around 700 firefighters are working to contain a blaze that has consumed about 5,000 hectares. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from nearby communities.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said wildfire conditions had deteriorated again on Monday, adding that fires were now burning in five departments and that twice as much land had burned in France this year compared with the same period in 2025.

Residents described the speed of the advancing flames as alarming. One villager said the fire came within 300 metres of homes and spread so rapidly that it caused panic.

The wildfire also disrupted the Tour de France, with authorities banning spectators from attending the finish area of Monday's third stage through the Pyrenees. Officials said only riders and essential race vehicles would be allowed on the route.

Spain and Portugal face difficult conditions

Across the border in Spain, a wildfire has burned about 2,200 hectares, most of it within the protected Les Gavarres natural area in Catalonia. Fire officials said the blaze had been stabilised, although rising temperatures and numerous hotspots continued to pose challenges. They hope to extinguish the fire later this week.

Further south, more than 500 residents were evacuated after another wildfire spread into the Sierra de Espadán National Park in Castellón province.

In Portugal, more than 1,200 firefighters, supported by hundreds of vehicles and 15 aircraft, have been battling a major fire in the Vouzela area. The blaze has burned roughly 13,000 hectares since it began last week.

Firefighting assistance has arrived from Spain and Italy, and Portuguese emergency officials said about 80% of the fire was under control by Monday despite ongoing dangerous hotspots. Interior Minister Luís Neves described current wildfire conditions as a "powder keg."

Greece and Balkans also affected

Wildfires have also spread elsewhere in southern Europe.

In Greece, a forest fire near the northern city of Thessaloniki spread into two factories, including a recycling plant that produced toxic smoke. Authorities issued evacuation alerts for three suburbs and advised residents in affected areas to remain indoors with windows and doors closed.

Another wildfire west of Athens prompted the deployment of 210 firefighters, supported by volunteers, specialist teams and 29 aircraft, to combat flames moving through pine forests near Mandra.

Elsewhere, fires damaged forests, vineyards and scrubland on Croatia's island of Hvar and in the Albanian town of Tale.

Heatwave raises wildfire risk

The fires follow unusually early and intense heatwaves in May and June that shattered temperature records across western Europe and left vegetation exceptionally dry.

Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group said the extreme temperatures recorded in June would have been "virtually impossible" without human-driven climate change. Temperatures are expected to climb again this week, with some areas forecast to reach 40C.

Fire officials in France warned that the wildfire season was only beginning and urged the public to remain vigilant as emergency services prepare for a prolonged summer of heightened fire risk.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 6 July 2026

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15 hours ago, webfact said:

Attribution group said the extreme temperatures recorded in June would have been "virtually impossible" without human-driven climate change.

Like arson ?

The sceptic will argue that anything we do could not possibly influence the climate, or effect the atmosphere. The planet is simply too large, and the population is too small to have any effect. Let the ships dump whatever they want into the ocean. The ocean is simply too large for anything we do to damage it.

This frees them to buy as many plastic bottles as they please, drive filthy diesel vehicles, and behave as if nothing effects anything.

It's not us. It is just a cycle. We are not responsible.

2 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The sceptic will argue that anything we do could not possibly influence the climate, or effect the atmosphere. The planet is simply too large, and the population is too small to have any effect. Let the ships dump whatever they want into the ocean. The ocean is simply too large for anything we do to damage it.

This frees them to buy as many plastic bottles as they please, drive filthy diesel vehicles, and behave as if nothing effects anything.

It's not us. It is just a cycle. We are not responsible.

Plastic dumped into the oceans disrupts and kills marine life, and has for a long time. As long as I've been alive. Some marine species get caught up in the flotsam and ingest others. I've seen this many times as a fisherman. Plankton itself is affected by the breaking down of the plastics. I've seen and heard this since high school, and this AI explains more...........

Entanglement and Physical Injury

Larger plastic debris—such as derelict fishing nets, packaging, and discarded straps—create lethal traps for marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds. Entanglement restricts movement, making it difficult for animals to hunt, evade predators, or surface for air. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

2. Ingestion and Starvation

Marine animals frequently mistake plastic for prey. For example, sea turtles often confuse floating plastic bags for jellyfish. When animals ingest plastic, it fills their stomachs, creating a false sense of fullness that leads to starvation. [1, 2, 3, 4]

3. Toxic Chemical Accumulation

Plastic isn't just physically hazardous; it is chemically dangerous. Plastics contain harmful manufacturing additives and act as "sponges," absorbing toxic pollutants from the surrounding seawater. When ingested, these chemicals leach into the animal’s body, causing reproductive issues, developmental delays, and compromised immune systems.

4. Microplastics and the Food Chain

Over time, sunlight and wave action shatter plastics into tiny fragments known as microplastics. These particles are consumed by microscopic zooplankton, placing the toxic synthetic material at the very base of the marine food web. As larger predators consume these smaller organisms, the plastic and accumulated toxins travel up the chain to apex predators and ultimately to humans.

5. Disruption of the Carbon Cycle

Plastics interfere with the ocean's ability to regulate the global climate. When zooplankton eat microplastics, their waste becomes buoyant, causing carbon to release higher in the water column rather than sinking to the deep ocean floor. Furthermore, plastic exposed to sunlight releases greenhouse gases like methane and ethane into the water.

These wildfires are happening all over because of the heat increasing, and building too many homes into the once forested areas, without making more reservoirs, is asking for a disaster to happen, as many have already, especially in California and Texas.

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Plastic dumped into the oceans disrupts and kills marine life, and has for a long time. As long as I've been alive. Some marine species get caught up in the flotsam and ingest others. I've seen this many times as a fisherman. Plankton itself is affected by the breaking down of the plastics. I've seen and heard this since high school, and this AI explains more...........

Entanglement and Physical Injury

Larger plastic debris—such as derelict fishing nets, packaging, and discarded straps—create lethal traps for marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds. Entanglement restricts movement, making it difficult for animals to hunt, evade predators, or surface for air. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

2. Ingestion and Starvation

Marine animals frequently mistake plastic for prey. For example, sea turtles often confuse floating plastic bags for jellyfish. When animals ingest plastic, it fills their stomachs, creating a false sense of fullness that leads to starvation. [1, 2, 3, 4]

3. Toxic Chemical Accumulation

Plastic isn't just physically hazardous; it is chemically dangerous. Plastics contain harmful manufacturing additives and act as "sponges," absorbing toxic pollutants from the surrounding seawater. When ingested, these chemicals leach into the animal’s body, causing reproductive issues, developmental delays, and compromised immune systems.

4. Microplastics and the Food Chain

Over time, sunlight and wave action shatter plastics into tiny fragments known as microplastics. These particles are consumed by microscopic zooplankton, placing the toxic synthetic material at the very base of the marine food web. As larger predators consume these smaller organisms, the plastic and accumulated toxins travel up the chain to apex predators and ultimately to humans.

5. Disruption of the Carbon Cycle

Plastics interfere with the ocean's ability to regulate the global climate. When zooplankton eat microplastics, their waste becomes buoyant, causing carbon to release higher in the water column rather than sinking to the deep ocean floor. Furthermore, plastic exposed to sunlight releases greenhouse gases like methane and ethane into the water.

These wildfires are happening all over because of the heat increasing, and building too many homes into the once forested areas, without making more reservoirs, is asking for a disaster to happen, as many have already, especially in California and Texas.

These wildfires are happening all over because of the heat increasing, and building too many homes into the once forested areas, without making more reservoirs, is asking for a disaster to happen, as many have already, especially in California and Texas.

Totally agree. What a lot of people don't know is that the problem that they had a specific Palisades was only partly due to the reservoir and largely due to an inadequate pumping system that was not designed to pump water uphill. According to one engineer I read a report from that is a trillion dollar project.

But the water issues are just one factor and typically Republicans refuse to acknowledge that there is an environmental issue at play here too, and many even refuse to acknowledge that global warming is caused by man.

Sometimes it seems as if we're behaving like we have seven alternative planets to move to once we foul this one beyond habitation.

And the really sad aspect of this is that it's very likely that mankind is not going to go extinct due to our reckless behavior, but rather that our quality of life is going to diminish significantly.

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Plastic dumped into the oceans disrupts and kills marine life, and has for a long time. As long as I've been alive. Some marine species get caught up in the flotsam and ingest others. I've seen this many times as a fisherman. Plankton itself is affected by the breaking down of the plastics. I've seen and heard this since high school, and this AI explains more...........

Entanglement and Physical Injury

Larger plastic debris—such as derelict fishing nets, packaging, and discarded straps—create lethal traps for marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds. Entanglement restricts movement, making it difficult for animals to hunt, evade predators, or surface for air. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

2. Ingestion and Starvation

Marine animals frequently mistake plastic for prey. For example, sea turtles often confuse floating plastic bags for jellyfish. When animals ingest plastic, it fills their stomachs, creating a false sense of fullness that leads to starvation. [1, 2, 3, 4]

3. Toxic Chemical Accumulation

Plastic isn't just physically hazardous; it is chemically dangerous. Plastics contain harmful manufacturing additives and act as "sponges," absorbing toxic pollutants from the surrounding seawater. When ingested, these chemicals leach into the animal’s body, causing reproductive issues, developmental delays, and compromised immune systems.

4. Microplastics and the Food Chain

Over time, sunlight and wave action shatter plastics into tiny fragments known as microplastics. These particles are consumed by microscopic zooplankton, placing the toxic synthetic material at the very base of the marine food web. As larger predators consume these smaller organisms, the plastic and accumulated toxins travel up the chain to apex predators and ultimately to humans.

5. Disruption of the Carbon Cycle

Plastics interfere with the ocean's ability to regulate the global climate. When zooplankton eat microplastics, their waste becomes buoyant, causing carbon to release higher in the water column rather than sinking to the deep ocean floor. Furthermore, plastic exposed to sunlight releases greenhouse gases like methane and ethane into the water.

These wildfires are happening all over because of the heat increasing, and building too many homes into the once forested areas, without making more reservoirs, is asking for a disaster to happen, as many have already, especially in California and Texas.

These wildfires are happening all over because of the heat increasing, and building too many homes into the once forested areas, without making more reservoirs, is asking for a disaster to happen, as many have already, especially in California and Texas.

Totally agree. What a lot of people don't know is that the problem that they had a specific Palisades was only partly due to the reservoir and largely due to an inadequate pumping system that was not designed to pump water uphill. According to one engineer I read a report from that is a trillion dollar project.

But the water issues are just one factor and typically Republicans refuse to acknowledge that there is an environmental issue at play here too, and many even refuse to acknowledge that global warming is caused by man.

Sometimes it seems as if we're behaving like we have seven alternative planets to move to once we foul this one beyond habitation.

And the really sad aspect of this is that it's very likely that mankind is not going to go extinct due to our reckless behavior, but rather that our quality of life is going to diminish significantly.

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

These wildfires are happening all over because of the heat increasing, and building too many homes into the once forested areas, without making more reservoirs, is asking for a disaster to happen, as many have already, especially in California and Texas.

Totally agree. What a lot of people don't know is that the problem that they had a specific Palisades was only partly due to the reservoir and largely due to an inadequate pumping system that was not designed to pump water uphill. According to one engineer I read a report from that is a trillion dollar project.

But the water issues are just one factor and typically Republicans refuse to acknowledge that there is an environmental issue at play here too, and many even refuse to acknowledge that global warming is caused by man.

Sometimes it seems as if we're behaving like we have seven alternative planets to move to once we foul this one beyond habitation.

And the really sad aspect of this is that it's very likely that mankind is not going to go extinct due to our reckless behavior, but rather that our quality of life is going to diminish significantly.

From what I've been seeing, we are going to run out of food if the population increases long before the earth burns itself up. Just watched Only The Brave with my daughter last week. Very sad and could have been prevented but greedy developers only care about what the ycan get now, as they won't be here too much longer anyway.

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

From what I've been seeing, we are going to run out of food if the population increases long before the earth burns itself up. Just watched Only The Brave with my daughter last week. Very sad and could have been prevented but greedy developers only care about what the ycan get now, as they won't be here too much longer anyway.

And this is just part of the reason why I am so thrilled that the population is declining in many nations now. I saw a recent study that estimated China's population will drop to as little as 650 million by the year 2060.

Somehow the world has to collectively figure out a solution to the Africa problem. 21 out of 22 nations with the highest birth rates in the world are in Africa and most of them are Muslim. And the vast majority that are having these babies cannot afford to have these babies, so it's a problem all the way around.

Declining population is the only way to save this planet, and declining birth rates are the greatest blessing we've seen in a century or more.

Just don't have babies.

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

And this is just part of the reason why I am so thrilled that the population is declining in many nations now. I saw a recent study that estimated China's population will drop to as little as 650 million by the year 2060.

Somehow the world has to collectively figure out a solution to the Africa problem. 21 out of 22 nations with the highest birth rates in the world are in Africa and most of them are Muslim. And the vast majority that are having these babies cannot afford to have these babies, so it's a problem all the way around.

Declining population is the only way to save this planet, and declining birth rates are the greatest blessing we've seen in a century or more.

Just don't have babies.

True, or if you're going to have them, at least raise them and not leave them with grandma.