Wildfires rage in Portugal and Spain as authorities in Greece warn of toxic smoke
The blazes come after a heatwave in June during which thousands of excess deaths were registered and which would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group said.
Wildfires raged across southern Europe on Monday, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes and prompting officials to ban spectators from a stage of the Tour de France cycling race.
Hundreds of firefighters are battling blazes that have devastated more than 190 square kilometres of land, an area more than twice the size of Manhattan, across Portugal, Spain, France and Greece.
And temperatures are on the rise again, predicted to reach 40C in parts of a region still suffering the aftermath of a recent record-breaking heatwave.
In southwestern France near the city of Perpignan, 700 hundred firefighters backed by special aircraft battled to control a "gigantic" blaze spreading in a hard-to-reach remote area, with more than 10,000 local residents evacuated.
Fanned by wind, intense heat and exceptionally dry air, the fire has nearly tripled in size since early Sunday, devouring 46 square kilometres and leaving a firefighter and a resident injured, local authorities said.
"The fire came within 300 metres of the houses. We were taken aback by how fast it spread, it was staggering, bordering on panic," said Patrice, a 53-year-old resident of the village of Trevillach, who did not wish to give his surname.
"We started seeing smoke around 10:30 pm, then it kept coming closer and closer. Someone from the town hall knocked on our door around 1:00 am to tell us to leave," said Charlotte Pignol, 30, who was among the first to be evacuated from her home early on Sunday.
The blazes come shortly after a heatwave in June, one of Europe's worst, during which thousands of excess deaths were registered and which would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.
With the mercury set to rise again in the coming days, authorities expressed alarm that the annual summer wildfire season had started a month early.
"Climate change is here, we are living the consequences and it is only the start of July," said French fire service Colonel Eric Belgioino as he appealed to people near the Pyrenees inferno to take precautions to avoid starting fires.
"The season is going to be long for the soldiers fighting fires. You have to help us," he pleaded.