France evacuates Cap Ferret peninsula as Spanish wildfires merge near Madrid – as it happened

French evacuees using hundreds of mobilised boats or the only road linking the area with the mainland as evacuation also ordered in areas near Spanish capital

Over in France, it's not just the south-west that gets affected, but the country's south-east regions are also being hard hit, AFP noted.

Dozens of fires flared up and are being fanned by the mistral wind around the historic village of Cotignac - officials saying around 25 houses had been destroyed since Tuesday.