Wildfires sweeping across several European nations have forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people and left at least five firefighters dead, local authorities reported on Friday. In southwestern France, a vast fire in the Gironde department that has scorched 42,000 hectares since 22 July was described by the prefect as stable but not yet controlled, allowing 198,000 of the more than 220,000 evacuees to return home, according to the Gironde prefecture. A separate fire in the Var department, between Marseille and Cannes, flared up again on Friday, burning 1,000 hectares in six hours and forcing the evacuation of about 2,500 residents, the Var prefect said.

In Greece, a new fire broke out on a mountain near the western Athens suburb of Chaidari, prompting a partial evacuation order, the Civil Protection agency said. On the island of Crete, a large wildfire that began on Wednesday continued to burn, though the situation was described as improving by the fire service. More than 8,000 people had been temporarily evacuated from coastal areas there, according to Greek authorities. In the central region of Boeotia, the coastal village of Agios Vasileios was cut off by flames, and more than 200 people were evacuated by sea, with another 100 expected to be moved by boat, the Greek news agency Amna reported, citing fire officials. Strong winds of up to 150 km/h in some areas complicated firefighting efforts and grounded water-bombing aircraft, the Hellenic National Meteorological Service said.

At least five firefighters have died in the line of duty: two in France during a fire near Bordeaux that preceded the Gironde blaze, and three in Greece over the past week — two on Crete and one on the Peloponnese peninsula, according to statements from local authorities and fire service spokespeople. In the Gironde region, at least 240 homes were destroyed, a figure the prefecture said would be consolidated after further inspections. In Spain, the national emergency declared for the provinces of Ávila and Madrid was lifted on Thursday after fires were stabilised, though around 1,000 residents remained unable to return to their homes in seven settlements near Madrid, the Spanish government said.

The World Weather Attribution scientific collaboration, in an analysis published while the fires were still burning, found that human-induced climate change had made extreme fire-weather conditions in central Spain at least 20 times more likely, and had doubled the likelihood of such conditions in southwestern France. The researchers used the Daily Severity Rating from the Canadian fire weather index, which combines temperature, humidity, rainfall and wind. The report has not yet undergone peer review, but the scientists used recognised techniques. The European Union warned that continued high temperatures could stretch firefighting resources across the continent, with Greece, Italy and parts of central Europe considered most vulnerable, according to Maria Zuber, head of the EU's emergency response coordination centre.