More than 10,000 residents have been evacuated from two dozen small towns and villages in south-western France after a wildfire that began on Saturday evening swept through the arid Aspres massif near Perpignan. The blaze, fanned by strong winds and dry air, had consumed 4,600 hectares by Monday, according to the prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales, and injured five people, including two firefighters. Across the border in Catalonia, a separate fire that started on Friday has burned 2,200 hectares, 97 per cent of it inside a protected natural area, and generated smoke that reached the island of Majorca, more than 250 kilometres away. In central Portugal, a fire in Vouzela that broke out on Thursday has ravaged at least 12,000 hectares, though civil protection authorities said on Monday morning it was “in course of resolution without risk of propagation”. Greek firefighters, meanwhile, battled a blaze that spread to a recycling plant near Thessaloniki, releasing toxic smoke that prompted evacuation warnings for three suburbs and an order for residents to stay indoors; a 76-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing the fire through negligence.

French authorities mobilised 700 firefighters to contain the Perpignan fire, supported by four water-bombing aircraft dispatched by the European Union from Cyprus and Sweden. The fire forced the organisers of the Tour de France to close the third stage to spectators on the French side of the route, though the race continued. In Spain, firefighters worked overnight inside a 40-kilometre perimeter to prevent flare-ups near Girona, and police arrested a contractor suspected of starting the blaze with an angle grinder. Greece’s fire service spokesman said 85 per cent of the country’s wildfires are caused by negligence, citing sparks from farm machinery, discarded cigarettes and barbecues. A separate large fire west of Athens drew 210 firefighters, specialist units and water-bombing aircraft.

The fires are unfolding during the third severe heatwave to hit western Europe in less than two months. Météo-France placed 61 departments on orange alert for Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to reach 41°C in the south-west and remain 10 to 17°C above seasonal norms across much of the country. The national weather service warned of a “very high to extreme” fire risk, driven by the combination of heat, drought-stressed vegetation and strong winds. Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group have said the extreme temperatures recorded in June would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change. France’s prime minister told the National Assembly that nearly 14,500 hectares have burned so far this season, almost three times the figure for the same period last year.

As of Monday afternoon, the Perpignan fire remained uncontained and conditions were deteriorating, with the prefect describing a “battle” to prevent its spread. Fifty buildings have been damaged to varying degrees. In Greece, a wildfire days earlier killed a 12-year-old boy and his father in a nearby area. Investigations into the causes of several fires are ongoing, and authorities across the affected countries have urged the public to exercise extreme caution.