As the area is on high alert due to wildfires in southwest France and Spain, hundreds are forced to flee.
As sections of the continent prepare for new temperature records early next week, a summer heatwave that has caused disastrous forest fires across Southwest Europe shows little signs of abating.
Firefighters are battling forest fires that have destroyed thousands of hectares of land and claimed many lives since the beginning of the week in France, Portugal, Spain, and Greece.
Parts of Southwest Europe are currently experiencing their second heatwave in as many weeks, and scientists are blaming climate change and predicting more frequent and severe occurrences of extreme weather.
In the Gironde area of southwest France, near the coastal town of Arcachon, firefighters are battling to contain two forest fires that have burned more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) since Tuesday.
An officer from the fire and rescue department, which is using 1,200 firefighters and five planes, said, "It's a herculean effort."
38 of France's 96 departments were identified as being on "orange" notice in the most recent weather warning, and locals were encouraged to exercise caution.
Monday is anticipated to be the hottest day of the heatwave in western France, with temperatures rising beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Firefighters are tackling a number of fires in neighboring Spain as a result of days of extremely high temperatures that reached up to 45.7C. (114F).
According to data from the Carlos III Health Institute, 360 people have died from the nearly week-long heatwave.
A sizable wildfire close to Mijas, a town in the province of Malaga that is well-liked by visitors from Northern Europe, has forced more than 3,000 people from their homes, the area's emergency services reported in a tweet.Additionally, there were fires raging in Galicia in the north as well as in Castille and Leon's center region.
Firefighters in Portugal had some relief on Saturday when temperatures over the majority of the nation dropped after recently reaching about 40C (104F).
According to data from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, wildfires destroyed a total of 39,550 hectares (98,000 acres) of land from the beginning of the year through mid-June, more than quadruple the amount of land destroyed by fires during the same time previous year.
In the past week, fires have burned an area about two thirds of that size.
The heatwave between July 7 and July 13 claimed the lives of 238 people in Portugal, the majority of them were elderly persons with underlying medical issues.
Due to frequent rock falls brought by by "extraordinary climatic circumstances" and "drought," authorities in the French Alps advised climbers headed for Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain, to delay their journey.
In a calamity officials blamed on climate change, a portion of Italy's largest Alpine glacier gave way at the beginning of the month, killing 11 people.Two flames that have destroyed more than 7,000 hectares of land and caused the evacuation of 10,000 people from the Bordeaux area of southwest France were battling to be put out by several hundred firefighters.A Canadair aircraft battling a forest fire close to La Teste-de-Buch in southwest France.
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