Raging wildfires in France prompt largest-ever peacetime evacuations
While residents are returning home after evacuations in Spain, France's wildfire and evacuation crisis continues to worsen.
Europe has been experiencing a record-breaking summer so far, with deadly heat and raging wildfires impacting hundreds of thousands across several countries.
At the forefront of the European news lately has been the escalating wildfire situation in both France and Spain.
On July 24, Spain's government declared a national state of emergency due to its 93 critical wildfires, one of which forced tens of thousands of residents in and around Madrid, the country's capital This is the first time in the country's history that the government has declared a state of emergency due to wildfires.
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While residents have since been allowed back to their homes in Madrid, on the French side of the border, the situation continues to worsen.
Over 220,000 evacuations due to wildfires in France
Over 90,900 hectares of land have been burned in France so far this season. To put that into some Canadian perspective, that area is larger than the size of Calgary.
As of July 29, there were 321 wildfires actively burning across the country, with 23 of them being classified as major wildfires.
Some of these major wildfires have been so powerful, in fact, that they were producing their own storm clouds, called pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
The worst of the fires currently burning are located in the Bordeaux region of southwestern France. This region is famous for its wineries and is a popular tourist destination.
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So far, over 220,000 French residents have had to evacuate their homes or properties due to the raging wildfires. According to CBC News, this may very well be the largest-ever peacetime evacuation the country has endured.
Renewed heat wave broils over Europe
Shortly before the wildfire crisis, in late June, much of Europe experienced a deadly heat wave that crushed previous all-time records for multiple countries, including France. Over 10,000 deaths due to the extreme and prolonged heat were reported across Europe by the time the heat event was over.
With that deadly scar still looming in the recent past, another major heat event has begun across the western half of the continent that is expected to worsen wildfire conditions even further.
Even with the heat expected to ease slightly in the coming days, temperatures will still sit well above normal at almost 40 degrees.
Central and southern Spain will likely bear the worst of the extreme heat and its impacts, especially as the country has already been simmering in a brutal dry pattern.
Even countries further north, however, will likely see little to no rain to relieve the heat and wildfires over the coming week.
According to a statement made by the United Kingdom's Environment Agency, over half of England is officially experiencing drought conditions.
"A large swathe of central, eastern, and southern England is now experiencing a flash drought - which develops very quickly brought about by a combination of very low rainfall and higher temperatures," the press release says. "Rivers are running low, farmers are having to harvest crops early, wildfire risk is increasing, and millions of people are living under restrictions on water use."