Wildfires sweeping across southern Europe have forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 residents in France and thousands more in Greece, Portugal and Spain, as a heatwave pushes temperatures towards 40°C. The most severe blaze, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of southwestern France, has burned 4,600 hectares since Saturday evening and remains uncontrolled, according to local authorities. The fire has also led organisers to bar spectators from the French portion of Monday’s third stage of the Tour de France, a rare disruption to the cycling race.

In France, the prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales, Pierre Regnault de la Mothe, confirmed that 700 firefighters backed by aircraft and 200 vehicles are battling the fire, which has forced the evacuation of 26 municipalities in the Aspres massif and around Ille-sur-Têt. At least five people have been injured, two of them — a firefighter and a resident — in critical condition, and around 50 buildings have been damaged. The Tour de France stage, running from Granollers in Spain to Les Angles, will proceed without the usual advertising caravan and with only essential vehicles on French roads; the public has been asked to stay away from the route and finish area.

Elsewhere, emergency services in central Portugal said they had brought 80% of a fire near Vouzela under control after it consumed 13,000 hectares and injured nine people. In Spain’s northeastern Girona region, a fire that has burned 2,200 hectares was stabilised but not yet extinguished, with one person detained on suspicion of negligence, Catalan authorities said. In Greece, a fast-moving blaze at a recycling plant near Thessaloniki prompted evacuation alerts and warnings about toxic smoke, while a separate fire west of Athens burned through pine forest; a 76-year-old man was arrested for allegedly starting the Thessaloniki fire by generating sparks from his vehicle.

Météo France has placed seven southeastern departments under the highest red alert for wildfire risk, and 41 others at elevated risk. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez noted that the summer fire season had begun a month earlier than usual, while a fire service colonel appealed to the public to avoid any activity that could spark new blazes. Across the affected countries, authorities said the priority remained protecting populations and containing the fires, with no immediate forecast of a break in the extreme heat.