Spain faces ‘complex’ three days with risks of heatwave and strong winds reigniting some fires – as it happened

Authorities fear progress in containing the fires in the Gironde and Madrid regions may be set back by temperatures expected to hit the low 40s And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today. France and Spain are on high alert as the fourth heatwave of the summer complicates ongoing efforts to tackle devastating wildfires in both countries. Authorities expressed cautious optimism after making some progress in battling the blazes overnight (10:15, 14:30, 15:02), but warned against complacency as worsening weather conditions raised fears of some fires reigniting in the coming hours as temperatures are expected to hit high 30s and low 40s C. Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez said this morning that next 12 hours will be “decisive” for a large wildfire burning near Madrid (11:41). Serious wildfires were also reported in other countries in Europe (15:23), with two firefighters killed battling a wildfire on the southern Greek island of Crete (16:56). If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa. But in a bit more encouraging news, AFP and Liberation report