Macron calls crisis meeting as wildfires threaten Bordeaux

French President Emmanuel Macron has convened a crisis meeting as massive wildfires continue to spread across southwestern France, threatening the outer districts of Bordeaux. High temperatures and strong winds are frustrating containment efforts, with officials warning that emergency services "are far from having the fire under control."

Displacement estimates across France and Spain now range between 250,000 and 325,000 people, including roughly 220,000 evacuated from France's Gironde department alone, where over 42,000 hectares have burned. Firefighters in France warned of unprecedented pyrocumulonimbus clouds generating unpredictable winds and lightning, further compounding hazardous conditions. Meanwhile, Spanish authorities have declared a national state of emergency, and French officials in the Var region are investigating suspected deliberate ignitions following multiple simultaneous blazes.

Sources: BBC News, Der Standard, France24, Helsingin Sanomat, Le Figaro