Residents watch the flames on hill crests as firefighters battle a wildfire in Cebreros area in Spain on July 24, 2026.

Wildfire in Cebreros area, near Avila, 80kms west of Madrid on July 24, 2026(Image: Cesar MANSO / AFP via Getty Images)

Separately, Police Scotland has declared a major incident as firefighters battle a huge wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park, with hundreds of people evacuated from homes in its path.

The force said strengthening winds have made the fire more unpredictable and caused it to spread towards Nethy Bridge, a small village in the Strathspey area of the park, prompting the decision to declare a major incident.

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The huge wildfire in south-west France that has swept across 140 square kilometres began on Wednesday near Cap Ferret peninsula.

Located just 37 miles west of Bordeaux, the peninsula normally offers stunning landscapes and sandy beaches as well as oyster-farming villages and upmarket resorts.

Around 141,000 have been evacuated from their homes in the Gironde and Landes departments in south-west France as a large wildfire ravaged swathes of land, the French interior ministry said.

Speaking to French TV channel Tf1, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has swept across 140 square kilometres, with 110,000 people fleeing their homes in the Gironde region, and is now heading towards the city of Bordeaux.

"We learned in the middle of the afternoon that, following the wind shift, it had become a large, self-sustaining fire that is extremely difficult to bring under control," he said.

"It is now moving east, toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area. We are going to reorganise our response so we can fight it from the ground and prevent it from advancing toward Bordeaux."

In Spain, the government has declared a national emergency for wildfires for the first time, with Regional President Isabel Díaz-Ayuso calling the wildfire near Madrid the worst in the capital's history.

The blazes in Madrid and the nearby province of Ávila have prompted the evacuation of some 60,000 people from towns west of the capital.

Two major fires near Madrid merged into one single blaze that had quickly charred 11.5 square miles by Friday afternoon.

Francisco Martín, the central government representative for the region of Madrid, said another 20,000 people have been ordered to shelter at home in towns west of the capital.

Martín said more evacuations may come and that the priority now is to protect the town of San Lorenzo, the home of the Escorial, Philip II's 16th-century royal palace and monastery.

Carlos Novillo, emergency management chief of Madrid's regional government, said this evening: "Right now, this fire is at a critical moment. It is beyond our capability to extinguish, with the head of the fire exceeding containment capabilities as it advances.

"In this zone, we cannot attack the fire. Efforts are focused on protecting population centres and reinforcing the right flank - which is greatest concern because of a shift in the wind expected today."