ByTom Bennett and the Visual Journalism team

Since mid-July, fires have ravaged areas in France, Spain, and Portugal, displacing over 300,000 residents from their homes.

Officials in Madrid have described the blazes as the most severe the region has ever faced.

French President Emmanuel Macron, after visiting the affected Gironde region, labeled the wildfire completely unprecedented and the toughest since World War Two.

The fires erupted during a sweltering summer marked by heatwaves across Europe. Both France and Spain now face another sharp increase in temperatures, with peaks of 41-42C forecast in France.

Wildfires outside Madrid have scorched about 606 sq miles (1570 sq km) since 1 July, per the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). That equals an area more than twice the size of the city.

In France, the Gironde area around Bordeaux suffered most, with over 200,000 people evacuated from their homes.

From 22 July the blaze spread quickly through forests and fields in the renowned wine region, consuming more than 162 sq miles (420 sq km) in under four days - roughly four times the size of Paris.

At its height, the wildfire approached within nine miles (15km) of southern Bordeaux, though the city faced no major threat.

The fires also neared sensitive military and industrial sites, including facilities handling French ballistic missiles, rocket motors, and hazardous chemicals.

The fires grew so intense they generated their own massive fire thunderstorm.

This rare event occurs when heat from the blaze lifts air rapidly, carrying smoke, ash, and water vapor high into the sky.

As the air cools during ascent, water vapor forms clouds. With enough power and atmospheric instability, these can develop into cumulonimbus clouds typical of thunderstorms.

Large enough clouds may produce lightning that ignites new fires, and they can occasionally deliver hail or rain.

Such extreme conditions complicate efforts to halt the fires.

French firefighters deploy planes with fire retardant and Canadair aircraft that scoop 6,000 litres of water from lakes or sea in 12 seconds to drop on the blazes.

On high-risk days, loaded planes patrol vulnerable zones before fires start, enabling drops within minutes of detection. Aircraft often shuttle continuously while retardant lines the fire edges and ground teams engage the flames.

Image gallery 1Skip image gallerySlide 1 of 3, Plane dumps water on wildfire - scene filled with smoke and flames. Planes like this Air Tractor AT-802F Fire Boss have been used to dump water on fires in both Spain and France

In Gironde, roughly 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 military staff, and 1,200 police and gendarmes worked to control the blaze.

Four French firefighters have died on duty, officials report.

Yet even with these resources, Gironde official Jean-Luc Gleyze told the BBC that authorities lack sufficient personnel.

We do not have enough people and trucks, and even France may not have enough, he said.

Near Lacanau, bulldozers and diggers carved a firebreak up to 100m (328ft) wide in places, according to French reports.

A firebreak strips land of vegetation to block fire spread by removing fuel in advance.

Spanish teams apply similar methods against their wildfires, which may become the nation's worst in two decades.

Francisco Martin, a government delegate in Madrid, called one blaze undoubtedly the largest fire in the history of the Madrid region.

This summer's fires benefited from hotter, drier conditions linked to climate change, allowing faster spread and fiercer burns.

The climate emergency worsens yearly, requiring unity in fighting fires as well as prevention and recovery, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

Appealing to regional governments, Sanchez added: Climate denial is the worst fuel for the fight against the climate emergency.

Image gallery 2Skip image gallerySlide 1 of 5, Beach fire. The fires near Bordeaux are in an area popular with tourists

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Rizzini and Helen Willetts. Visual Journalism by Pilar Tomas, Camilla Costa and Kate Gaynor.

France
Severe weather
Spain
Wildfires