Olivia Jarratt, 44, was evacuated from the Truc Vert campsite in Lège-Cap-Ferret with her husband and two children in the early hours of Friday morning.

Her daughter was woken with sirens and the family left their tent, camping gear and bikes behind as they made the drive to Bordeaux.

"At first, we dismissed it, and thought she was having a nightmare, but we realised it was all going on, and everyone was packing in a panic. There's only one road off the peninsula, so people were trying to be as quick as possible.

"There was a loudspeaker with the sirens, but obviously that was in French, and with everything, we couldn't understand what was happening."

Headmaster David Morton, 53, from Gloucester in southwest England, had been on holiday with his wife and sons when they received an emergency alert via text overnight on Thursday instructing them to evacuate.

The family were staying in a house in Petit Piquey, in the Cap Ferret peninsula, and were woken up at 03:00 local time (02:00 BST) by an alert on the property's landline.

"Everyone was driving with their lights on, driving very slowly – there was lots of fire service people, ambulances, police on the other side of the road controlling things and we could see several fires in the distance as we drove," he has told the BBC.

"It's different from seeing it on the television… seeing it blazing out of control despite hundreds and hundreds of firemen and women helping."

Image source, David Morton

Hugh Schofield
Paris Correspondent

The outlook for these fires in France is not optimistic.

The winds are shifting and unpredictable, and months of heat and drought have created alarmingly dangerous conditions.

It's already been a terrible year for forest fires, but in France, these are the most severe yet.

The great fear is that the worst is yet to come.

There’s no prospect of rain, and next week more high temperatures are forecast.

Image source, Reuters

The mayor of one of the hardest hit areas of France has described how the wildfires are "the worst-case scenario" and authorities are dealing with a "massive, unprecedented fire".

The Mayor of Lège-Cap Ferret Philippe de Gonneville tells reporters how the region has "faced extreme weather conditions for the last month and a half" without rain and with temperatures above average.

"It is unheard of," he says. "Neither we nor the firefighters have ever seen anything like it."

The mayor says two fire breaks have been created to prevent the fire from spreading down towards Cap Ferret and "the defensive lines appear to be holding".

The entire Cap Ferret peninsula was evacuated "using both land and sea routes" after the fire spread, he explains.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has told Spain's public broadcaster RTVE that authorities are doing "everything we can" to prevent the Ávila fire merging with the fires in Madrid.

Grande-Marlaska says the situation is "complex" and authorities will "carry out all necessary evacuations and containment measures".

He adds that saving lives is the top priority.

Local emergency services said this afternoon that two fires to the west of Madrid had merged. The regional government's emergency management chief said that the fire is "beyond the capacity" of firefighters "to extinguish it".

Image source, Getty Images

The latest figures from the French interior minister mean around 135,000 people have been evacuated across France and Spain.

As we just reported, the minister said 110,000 people have been evacuated in south-west France as fires burn in the Gironde and Landes regions.

Across the border in Spain, a further 25,000 people have been evacuatedand more than 20,000 are in lockdown, according to officials in Madrid, as fires burn west of the city.

The delegate of the government in the Community of Madrid, Francisco Martín, revealed the figures in his latest press update.

Image source, Getty Images

France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says that 110,000 people have been evacuated as the wildfires have burned over 14,000 hectares (34,600 acres) in south-west France.

"We have never seen a convective fire of this magnitude," Nuñez tells French broadcaster TF1, explaining that around 50 firefighters have been injured today.

Nuñez explains that firefighters have been left exhausted and that they will be reinforced by military resources to "combat this completely unprecedented situation".

He describes how the fire is "self-sustaining" and changes direction, explaining that it is heading east towards the Bordeaux metropolitan area.

Nuñez adds that Bordeaux airport is currently closed and European countries have responded to France's calls for help.

Earlier, we heard that more than 44,000 had been evacuated from the area.

The evacuations across France and Spain now total 135,000, according to the latest figures from both countries.

Madrid's regional government says the wildfires are affecting air quality in the areas around the city, warning residents that they could be exposed to the effects of smoke.

In a notice on the Comunidad de Madrid website, it says special attention should be paid to vulnerable people, including children, elderly residents, pregnant women and people with respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.

It advises people to close doors, windows and all ventilation in their homes, to prevent smoke from entering, adding that people should avoid going outside unless it's absolutely necessary.

Image source, Getty Images

The wildfire raging near Madrid is "at its peak" and it is "beyond the capacity" of firefighters "to extinguish it", a local official says.

Carlos Novillo - the regional government's emergency management chief - says the fire is moving toward the municipalities of Robledo de Chavela and Fresnedillas de la Oliva, a few dozen kilometres from Madrid's western outskirts.

People in the two areas were earlier ordered to evacuate by authorities.

"It is not possible to attack the fire in that area, so defensive measures are being taken," Novillo tells reporters.

Approximately 25,000 people have been evacuated and more than 20,000 are in lockdown, Madrid officials say.

Persistent warm and dry weather conditions in France mean wildfires in the region have been even tougher to contain.

On the Cap Ferret peninsula, hundreds escaped the area by boat when they were ordered to evacuate.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Madrid's regional president has described how the fires near the Spanish capital are some of the worst it has ever seen.

Responding to the spread of fires, Isabel Díaz Ayuso says it is "the worst fire in the history of the region".

Speaking at an emergency command post in the south-western municipality of Cenicientos, she describes how the area has been facing a "perfect storm" with high temperatures, relentless wind and several fire fronts merging.

"The situation is completely unusual and catastrophic," she says, adding that the priority was saving lives.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has also described how people are "living through a dramatic situation" as forest fires ravage thousands of hectares.

Ecologio Cabrera, 86, was forced to flee his village west of the Spanish capital because of the deadly wildfires.

"If you don't run from it and you try to face it, it devours you," he tells AFP news agency in a sports hall in the village of Vilamanta, where hundreds of evacuees have sought refuge.

Cabrera recalls firefighters racing through his neighbourhood in Aldea del Fresno where he has lived for nearly three decades, ordering everyone to leave immediately.

The family fought to save their home by spraying it continuously with garden hoses until firefighters appeared, he says.

"They arrived and told everybody to get out... I have never experienced anything like this."

Image source, Reuters

More than 65,000 people have been evacuated across Spain and France as significant wildfires continue to burn on the continent.

Approximately 25,000 people have been evacuated in Spain and more than 20,000 are in lockdown, the delegate of the government in the Community of Madrid, Francisco Martín, says in his latest press update.

Meanwhile, more than 44,000 people have been forced to evacuate over the past two days in the south-west of France following a wildfire in the Gironde region.

The fire has destroyed more than 12,500 hectares of forest as well as 53 homes and a campsite as of 12:00 local time (11:00 BST) on Friday, local prefect Sophie Brocas announced.

Brocas also announced further preventive evacuations in the districts of Arès, Andernos, Le Temple, and Saumos.

Image source, Getty Images

Authorities in France's Gironde region are expanding evacuation orders due to the rapidly spreading wildfire there.

The municipalities of Sainte-Hélène, Salaunes and Lanton, west of Bordeaux, have now been ordered to undergo preventative evacuation.

The Gironde blaze - described as an "XXL fire" by local prefect Sophie Broca - had already forced the evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula.

In an online post announcing the latest evacuations, officials urged those in the area to "follow the instructions of the authorities and stay informed".

Back-to-back heatwaves have worsened fire danger in Europepublished at 18:03 BST

18:03 BST

Sarah Keith-Lucas
BBC Weather

Wildfires are still burning in several parts of Europe, with France, Italy and Spain being the worst affected countries.

Extreme heat has been gripping places such as Murcia and Sicily over recent days, with temperatures in Sardina rising above 47C.

Three back-to-back heatwaves in Europe - the world’s fastest warming continent - have exacerbated the fire danger, along with the abundance of dry vegetation.

A wet winter followed by a sunny spring in western Europe created optimal conditions for vegetation growth in the region.

Then the recent hot and dry weather has then dried out this vegetation, providing a huge amount of fuel for fires that do ignite.

The fire danger does improve for some places into the weekend as a couple of cold fronts will work their way into western Europe.

These front will bring some showers and thunderstorms, initially across northern Spain and Portugal Saturday morning, before spreading across southern France and the western Alps later on Saturday.

By Sunday, much of Italy, the Balkans and eastern Europe will see some showery rain and a drop in temperature will accompany the rain in many places too.

Image source, Getty Images

Approximately 23,000 people have been evacuated from the Landes region between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, the region's prefect has said.

Gilles Clavreul tells the press during an update this afternoon that there is an evacuation under way in Parentis-en-Born and 8,000 people are expected to be moved as a result.

The region also includes the area near the town of Biscarrosse, which has been affected by the fires - it does not include the fire in Cap Ferret.

He says 500 firefighters have been deployed, with five having been injured but not severely, and approximately 105 properties have been “affected by the flames” or “even destroyed”.

The prefect says weather developments are "not really favourable" and some rain is expected, but there have not currently been any victims reported in the civilian population.

As fires continue to rage across France and Spain, tens of thousands have been evacuated from homes and holiday resorts.

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In Spain, wildfires have gripped the country as they edge closer and closer to the capital, with thousands evacuating to safety.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Authorities in the Gironde region in France say the fire in Cap Ferret continues to spread, destroying 12,500 hectares (nearly 31,000 acres).

The prefect of the Gironde region said in a post on X this was measured as of 14:00 local time (13;00 BST).

Preventative evacuations are under way in the areas of Arès, Andernos, Le Temple, and Saumos.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said earlier that 40,000 people had been evacuated in Gironde and 23,000 in Landes, as a precautionary measure.

Earlier on Friday, the entirety of the Cap Ferret peninsula on France's south-west coast was ordered to be evacuated due to ongoing fires in the Gironde region, with local prefect Sophie Broca calling the blaze an "XXL fire".

Fire and rescue chief Marc Vermeulen said the wildfire on the peninsula had spread rapidly at the end of Thursday and into the early hours of Friday.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 40,000 people had either been or were in the process of being evacuated from the peninsula.

Further down the coast, near the town of Biscarrosse in the Landes region of France, another major fire began on Thursday afternoon.

Landes prefect Gilles Clavreul said the fire was not going to be out by the end of Friday, with winds of up to 50km/h (31mph) and temperatures of 36-37C.

About 18,000 people in Biscarrosse and 5,000 in Parentis-en-Born had to leave their homes, campsites, a nursing home and a summer camp.