In Spain, firefighters are tackling wildfires in several areas not far from Madrid and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska declared a national emergency as fires burned at Villa del Prado and San Martín de Valdeiglesias in the Madrid region and at Burgohondo in Ávila.
Pedro Sánchez said forest fires were “ravaging thousands of hectares” and affecting numerous communities.
“The government has deployed all available resources. It will stand by your side during the emergency and in the recovery.”
Local emergency services said more than 10,000 people had been evacuated.
An update on Friday morning described both fires as “out of control” although their progression in recent hours had been “limited”.
Aldea del Fresno and some other areas in the region have been evacuated.
Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. That rapid rise in temperatures is making its summers hotter and, particularly in the south, drier.
The hotter, drier conditions leave soils, trees and other vegetation with less moisture, creating the fuel in which wildfires can take hold. A spark is still needed – most often from human activity, usually accidental but sometimes deliberate, or from lightning.
Once a fire starts, extreme heat, dry vegetation and strong winds can help it spread faster, burn more intensely and become much harder to control.
How forests and landscapes are managed also matters: accumulated vegetation and abandoned land can provide more fuel for fires. But the European Environment Agency has said “climate change has increased forest fire risk across Europe”, with the greatest danger expected in southern Europe.
Additional reporting by BBC climate editor Justin Rowlatt.
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