Thousands of firefighters are battling wildfires in Portugal, Spain and southwestern France, in the grip of a heatwave that shows no sign of easing.
In northern Portugal, a pilot died when his waterbombing plane crashed in the Foz Coa area, near the Spanish border.
Fires are ravaging areas of France’s Gironde region, where more than 12,000 people have been evacuated.
In southern Spain, near the Costa del Sol, about 2,300 people had to flee a wildfire spreading in the Mijas hills.
Holidaymakers on the beach in Torremolinos saw big plumes of smoke rising in the hills, where several aircraft were tackling the blaze.
Ashley Baker, a Briton who lives in Mijas in southern Spain, told the BBC that the fire appeared more threatening on Friday, but since then the wind had blown it away from his area.
Planes have been a dropping fire retardant substance, as helicopters shuttle to and from the coast, collecting seawater to douse the flames.
“There are about 40 houses in our area, everyone was really nervous and standing outside or on balconies watching it,” Mr Baker said.
“Even now there are fires at the top of the mountains. It moved away from here, I’m very relieved. When you live in the hills, it’s very scary – all the road signs are giving you updates all the time about extreme fire risks.”
Meanwhile, near France’s south-west Atlantic coast, a local resident described the forest fires as feeling “post-apocalyptic”.
“I’ve never seen this before,” Karyn, who lives near Teste-de-Buch, told news agency AFP.
The fire there and another just south of Bordeaux have ravaged nearly 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres). Some 3,000 firefighters are tackling the blazes.
Christophe Nader and his son-in-law are now at a shelter near Teste-de-Buch, having been forced to abandoned their house in the village of Cazaux with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing. He told the BBC he was hoping to get back there to rescue their cat. Hundreds of others from the danger zone are also at the temporary shelter, which has provided beds.
Animal rescues are being organised from there, but it is a slow process, the BBC’s Jessica Parker reports.
“Everything went so fast – the fire too, was big, big, big,” Manon Jacquart, 27, told the BBC. She was evacuated from the campsite she works at early on Wednesday morning, and has been sleeping at a shelter near La Teste-de-Buch, on France’s west coast.
“I’m just worried, I’m afraid… I’m trying to be as strong as I can but I’m not ok… I want to forget this week,” she said.
Reported BBC World Service
