More than 10,000 residents were evacuated from two dozen towns and villages in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of south-western France after a wildfire that began on Saturday evening spread rapidly, driven by strong winds, high temperatures and exceptionally dry air. By Monday morning, the blaze had consumed at least 4,600 hectares of forest and scrubland near the Spanish border, according to the local prefect, Pierre Regnault de la Mothe. Five people, including two firefighters, have been injured, and at least 50 buildings have been damaged to varying degrees, authorities said.

Nearly 700 firefighters, supported by water-bombing aircraft, were battling the fire on Monday as conditions deteriorated. The French interior minister, Laurent Nunez, warned that “the battle resumes today” with winds expected to fan the flames further. The European Commission dispatched four firefighting planes from Cyprus and Sweden to reinforce the effort. The fire’s proximity to the route of the Tour de France forced organisers to bar spectators from the final 40 kilometres of the third stage and to cancel the traditional publicity caravan, in order to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles.

Across the border in Spain, a separate wildfire in the Girona region of Catalonia has destroyed 2,200 hectares, 97 per cent of them inside the protected Les Gavarres natural area. Catalan authorities said the blaze was stable and expected to be fully extinguished by the end of the week. Police arrested a worker suspected of accidentally starting the fire with an angle grinder. Further south, in the province of Castellón, 500 people were evacuated after flames entered the Sierra de Espadán national park. In Portugal, a large fire in the northern municipality of Vouzela had burned at least 12,000 hectares by Monday, though civil protection officials said it was “in the process of being resolved without risk of spreading”. In Greece, 96 wildfires broke out over 48 hours, the government spokesman said; the most significant, west of Athens, was being tackled by more than 200 firefighters and 29 aircraft, while a fire near Thessaloniki that engulfed a recycling plant prompted warnings about toxic smoke.

The fires are unfolding during a third intense heatwave to hit western Europe this summer. Météo-France placed 16 departments under an orange heat alert on Monday, extending to 61 on Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to reach 40°C in the south-west. Spain’s meteorological agency warned that the heatwave would last at least until Wednesday, with highs of 43°C recorded in Andalusia and Extremadura. In Greece, the fire service said 85 per cent of wildfires are caused by human negligence, and a 76-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of sparking the Thessaloniki blaze with sparks from his vehicle. The fire in south-western France remained uncontained as of Monday evening, with authorities warning that the danger of further outbreaks would persist as long as the heat and wind continued.