BORDEAUX: France and Britain suffered soaring temperatures on Wednesday, edging closer to the blistering heat already engulfing Spain and Portugal as wildfires destroyed vast stretches of Western European forestland.

Large parts of the Iberian Peninsula have seen temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) this week.

In southwestern France a wildfire raging since Tuesday had ripped through 1,000 hectares of pine trees just south of Bordeaux by Wednesday, prompting the evacuation of 150 residents from their homes.

Near the Dune of Pilat — Europe’s tallest sand dune — another fire consumed about 700 hectares of old pine trees, authorities said, with the blaze still not contained.

Regional prefect Fabienne Buccio told reporters that fires were spread out over five kilometres (three miles), fuelled by dried-out vegetation.

About 6,000 campers near the dune were evacuated as firefighters worked through the night on the sandy terrain. Further inland, 500 people were evacuated around the village of Guillos as their homes came under threat from advancing fire.

Some 600 firefighters have been battling the blazes in the region, aided by waterbomber aircraft. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne warned that the heat, forecast to last 10 days, “affects people’s health very quickly, especially that of the most vulnerable”.

Some cities, like Toulouse and Lourdes, have made changes to their Bastille Day celebrations programmes on Thursday to limit the risk of accidental fire, while Nimes cancelled the traditional fireworks altogether.

The prefect of the Paris region, meanwhile, cut the speed limit on motorways and expressways to limit air pollution.

“We do expect it to worsen,” World Meteo­rological Organi­sation spokeswoman Clare Nullis said. “Accompanying this heat is drought,” she said. It had also been “a very bad season for the glaciers”, she said.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2022