• Firefighters in France’s Gironde region observe first signs of a slowdown among the blazes.
• As of Thursday afternoon, 7,400 hectares of forest had been consumed by the fires.
• France activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on Thursday.

Thursday, Western Europe was struggling to deal with the aftermath of extreme heat and drought, with wildfires in France forcing evacuations and Italian farmers losing up to 80% of their harvest due to severe drought.

Thursday afternoon, after days of fighting, firefighters in the Gironde region of southwestern France observed the first signs of a slowdown among the blazes.

“The fire did not grow very much during the day, despite very low humidity and high temperatures, thanks to especially the combined action of the means that were made available,” said Gironde’s fire chief, Marc Vermeulen, at a daily news conference.

However, the situation remains difficult, according to officials. As of Thursday afternoon, 7,400 hectares of forest had been consumed by the Gironde fires, and 10,000 people have been evacuated from the area. According to Martin Guesperau, deputy commissioner of defence and security for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine prefecture, the perimeter of the fire is 40 kilometres, requiring a large number of personnel.

France activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on Thursday, allowing other EU member states to divert resources to the country.

The first group of German firefighters has already arrived at the scene, and Romanian teams are anticipated to arrive tonight. Friday is also expected to see the arrival of firefighters from Poland and Austria. According to Guesperau, the four countries will send a total of 361 firefighters and 101 vehicles to assist.

Guesperau added that two additional firefighting aircraft from Italy are expected to arrive on Friday, in addition to the four aircraft sent from Greece and Sweden today.

“Today, we fully benefit from European solidarity,” French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne told reporters during a visit to the Gironde fire-ravaged town of Hostens on Thursday morning.

More than fifty percent of the fires this year occurred in Gironde.

This summer, wildfires in France have been especially destructive, ravaging the country’s south and southwest while also erupting in Normandy and Brittany, further north than is typical.

Since June 10, 41,400 hectares have been consumed by fires in France, a significant increase compared to the 2,040 hectares lost during the same period last year, according to the press office of the French Interior Ministry’s civil security department.

Farmers in some regions of Italy have lost up to 80 percent of their harvest this year due to extreme weather conditions, the Coldretti farming association reported on Thursday.

According to Coldretti, drought has rendered the soil incapable of absorbing recent rainfall, leading to flooding and landslides.

Hail was “the most serious climatic event due to the irreversible damage it caused to the crops,” the association said, adding that “it can destroy an entire year’s work in a matter of minutes.”

The damage is estimated to exceed 6 billion euros ($6.2 billion), which is equivalent to 10 percent of Italy’s annual agricultural production.

Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the national weather service of Spain, AEMET, has issued a warning of high temperatures across the country as the heatwave continues on the peninsula.

Various parts of the country are under heat advisories for Thursday, with the highest concentration of affected communities in Spain’s northeastern regions near the French border.

According to AEMET, temperatures are expected to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius.
On Friday, heat advisories have been issued for the majority of the country, with temperatures expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in the northeast and south of Spain.

The United Kingdom is also experiencing another week of high temperatures, with the London Fire Brigade describing the capital city as “tinderbox dry” on Thursday as firefighters battle a “unprecedented” rise in grass fires in the city this summer.

In the first week of August, firefighters responded to 340 grass, rubbish, and open land fires, compared to 42 fires in the same week last year, according to a statement from the Brigade.

The Fire Brigade chief urged Londoners not to have barbecues in open areas or on balconies, to properly dispose of trash, and to extinguish cigarettes.

The Met Office issued a “amber extreme heat warning” for portions of England and Wales on Tuesday. The advisory is in effect from Thursday through Sunday and “impacts possible to health transport and infrastructure.” are included.

The statement predicts that temperatures will peak on Friday and Saturday and “likely” reach the low to mid-30s Celsius (86 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit).

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