Army of volunteers descend on Bordeaux to fight gigantic 'firestorm' threatening to engulf city as Brits are warned to stay away and tourist hotspots are reduced to ashes

An army of volunteer firefighters has descended on Bordeaux to battle a gigantic 'firestorm' threatening to engulf the city.British holidaymakers have been urged to abandon travel plans to the Gironde area ‘at least until the fire has been brought under control’, while those already there have been told to make other arrangements.Sophie Brocas, the region’s prefect, said: ‘We urge tourists not to come to this region, at least until the situation is under control. I encourage tourists who are already here to consider another destination.’ In total, about 220,000 people have been evacuated in southwestern France, where an area of 42,000 hectares has been scorched in one of the largest forest fires since the Second World War. Local farmers volunteered to help firefighters, with footage posted on social media showing a convoy of tractors towing huge water tankers in an effort to reinforce the crews battling the blaze.'We ⁠came to lend a hand because if it were our region, we'd want others to do the ​same. And given the scale of the disaster, we ​think our ⁠efforts are very welcome too,' said 65-year-old farmer Pascal Roudier.In France, nearly 80 per cent of its approximately 250,000 firefighters are volunteers. This summer, many of them have already been heavily deployed in their home departments after the fire season began early – just as spring ended. A firefighting crew being deployed to battle a wildfire spreading in Ares, southwestern France, late July 25 Apocalyptic drone footage shows the smoking remains of luxury villas in southwestern France Around 220,000 people have been evacuated in southwestern France, where an area of 42,000 hectares has been scorchedDeadly wildfires have ravaged the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, a popular tourist destination, and spread through areas surrounding Bordeaux, where firefighters are trying to prevent the flames from reaching the regional capital.Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said the fire was about nine miles away from the entry points to the main city.‘We have a fire ​that is not under control and which is moving in the direction of the city area,’ Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France 2 TV on Sunday evening.‘The overall situation is very ​unfavourable, we are in a situation that is unprecedented.’Cazenave said earlier on Sunday that there were no plans to evacuate Bordeaux, whose wider metropolitan area has ⁠a population of about 850,000.Nunez said authorities would continue to assess the situation calmly and realistically. As the blaze advanced, police went door-to-door overnight in the municipalities of Marcheprime and Cestas, evacuating residents one ​home at a time.French authorities released footage showing officers knocking on doors in the dark and urging people to leave.Captain Nicolas Braz, one of the leaders of the firefighting operation, said the blaze had created 'its own winds - complete with whirlwinds', adding it was 'erratic and unmanageable'. This photograph shows smoke from nearby wilfires covering the skyline of the city of Bordeaux on July 26Firefighting operations continue as a wildfire burns near Saint-Jean-d'Illac in southwestern France on July 26 At least 240 homes have been destroyed in Gironde region, many of them in village Le Porge Firefighters battle a wildfire spreading in Cestas-Perroton, southwestern France, July 26 British holidaymakers have been urged to abandon travel plans to the Gironde area ‘at least until the fire has been brought under control’, while those already there have been told to make other plans In total, about 220,000 people have been evacuated in southwestern France , where an area of 42,000 hectares has been scorched in one of the largest forest fires since the Second World War Local volunteers patrol and hose down hotspots around Le Porge, in southwestern France's Gironde department, to prevent flare-ups following a wildfire that destroyed homes, vehicles and large areas of forest in the municipality west of Bordeaux, July 26Weather forecasters warn another heatwave could hit France from Tuesday, with temperatures reaching 40C in some areas.At least 240 homes have been destroyed in Gironde region, many of them in the village of Le Porge.France's defence ministry said it has taken special steps to protect industrial sites around Bordeaux, a key centre of the country's aerospace industry.The main freeway south of Bordeaux and rail services have been cut.Some 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 military personnel and around 1,200 police have been deployed to the Gironde region.France's major blaze has caused an unprecedented 'pyrocumulonimbus' - a gigantic fire cloud that creates its own winds and packs lightning that causes more fires, said the National Firefighters Federation of France (FNSPF).'It's a David-versus-Goliath scenario... at some point, we'll find a weak spot and strike there,' said FNSPF spokesman Eric Brocardi.French President Emmanuel Macron has called a Monday morning crisis cabinet meeting to discuss the emergency, his office said.Sebastien Berge, head of the Gironde firefighters union, said: 'The firefighters are overwhelmed. When there's a fire of this magnitude, it creates its own weather pattern... it's difficult to monitor.'Especially when there's a fire front that stretches for more than 20km.'When you see how far it's spreading, I think we can now be concerned about the city of Bordeaux.'While Cazenave said there were no current plans to evacuate the UNESCO-listed city, the local council is said to be considering a 'total evacuation of the city if needed'.Around 270,000 people live in the city of Bordeaux, with more than 830,000 in the Bordeaux Métropole urban area, which includes 28 connected local towns.As the flames edge closer to Bordeaux, the wildfire is also threatening the world-famous vineyards that define the region's identity.At Château Haut-Bacalan, the western-most vineyard in Bordeaux, owner Charles-Henri Gonet said the blaze is now just six miles from his estate, which lies surrounded by dense pine forests in the direct path of the inferno.After friends in nearby Saint-Jean-d'Illac were forced to flee their homes, Gonet, 63, is waiting for the emergency SMS alert telling him to evacuate.His 18th-century château, where he has lived since 1998 with his co-owner wife, Corinne, sits on an eight-hectare estate producing around 20,000 bottles of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc each year, with wines exported around the world.While he believes the vines themselves are unlikely to burn, he fears the thick smoke could irreparably damage this year's harvest just weeks before the grapes are due to be picked.He said: 'We have to hope for some rain between now and harvest to wash the smoke from the grapes, otherwise there's a danger that some of them will be ruined.'In Bordeaux, traditional winemaking relies on natural rainfall so that roots grow deep into the soil to absorb unique minerals. By law we cannot water them ourselves.'Smoke taint occurs when grapevines absorb compounds from wildfire smoke which later create burnt, smoky and ashy flavours during fermentation.Gonet said the smoke arrived suddenly on Friday evening.'One minute it was daylight and the next we were shrouded in darkness. I could only see about 200m [65ft] in front of me and motorists had to put on their headlights. We could really smell the smoke and there was ash falling too.'Smoke from the inferno has already been billowing into the sky above the city and sinking into its streets, which has caused concern among residents who may be hit with respiratory problems.Gonet said that he and his wife have already packed their bags in case they receive an evacuation order overnight.He said: 'We are the most westerly of all the Bordeaux vineyards and at the moment the closest to the fire, which is about 10km or 12km away.'It was heading right for us, but the wind direction is changing all the time and fortunately the flames have started to head south and west of us.'The areas around us have already evacuated. We have places we can go. It's just a case of waiting for the phone alert.'He also warned of another potential danger if the fire continues to spread.'There is a factory producing gunpowder close to Bordeaux airport. If that catches fire... everyone is in trouble.'Firefighters are continuing to battle the advancing blaze from the ground and air, with water-bombing aircraft, including a converted A400M military transport plane, dropping water and flame retardant over the forests as crews attempt to slow its advance toward the city. Farmers fill tanks with water to help firefighters battle the fire in Blagon, west of Bordeaux, on July 2 Firefighters battled massive blazes tearing through forests across France on July 27, as authorities warned of a fresh heatwave set to engulf the scorched French wine-growing region around the major city of Bordeaux Firefighters are continuing to battle the advancing blaze from the ground and air, with water-bombing aircraft, including a converted A400M military transport plane, dropping water and flame retardant over the forests as crews attempt to slow its advance toward the city Bordeaux Council is considering a total evacuation of the city where more than 270,000 people live Firefighters remain deployed across the area while residents assist with monitoring operations to detect any reignitions The wildfire, one of the most severe recorded in France this summer, triggered mass evacuations and prompted the deployment of thousands of emergency respondersIn Spain, more than 75,000 people have been evacuated and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place.Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited fire-hit areas in Avila, one of three central ​provinces affected by major blazes, alongside Madrid and Toledo.Flames have devastated more than 50,000 hectares of countryside in Avila, making it the biggest wildfire in Spain's recent history, according to Environment Minister Sara Aagesen. A separate blaze in Spain's eastern Castellon province has ravaged over 4,300 hectares, regional authorities said. 'The fire is out of control, it's very difficult to extinguish from a technical standpoint, especially because of the adverse weather conditions that will continue throughout the day,' ​the regional leader of Valencia, Juanfran Perez, told reporters near the site.The wildfire has entered the Sierra de Espadan natural park containing large forests of pine trees and cork oaks. The fires are the latest ​disasters linked to prolonged drought and successive heatwaves that scientists say have been intensified by climate change. In both Bordeaux and Avila, July high temperatures have averaged 32C, almost 6C above the month's normal ‌high between 1961 ⁠and 1990, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor. Residents try to put out a fire at their land during a wildfire near San Martin de Valdeiglesias, about 43 miles west of Madrid, on July 26 An Air Tractor AT-802F Fire Boss aircraft dumps water over a wildfire burning near San Martin de Valdeiglesias, about 70km west of Madrid, on July 26 Residents help to water the soil as a fire started in an industrial area of San Martin de Valdeiglesias on July 26Under the European Union's civil protection mechanism, Greece and Italy have each sent two Canadair firefighting aircraft to Spain, while Portugal has deployed more than 100 military personnel along with equipment.Two more planes will arrive 'as soon as possible' from Turkey, the Spanish interior ministry said on X.Sanchez said his government would on Tuesday declare a civil protection emergency for the central provinces plagued by the wildfires, unlocking additional recovery funding.More than 150,000 hectares have burned across Spain since January, he said, six times the area destroyed during the same period last year.While wildfires have long been a feature ​of Spain's summers, Sanchez said their growing scale and ​intensity, fuelled by increasingly extreme weather, required ⁠policies grounded in climate science.In the highlands of Scotland, as many as 500 firefighters have been dealing with a large blaze within Cairngorms National Park since July 15.Residents of the village of Nethy Bridge, who were evacuated on Friday evening after a change in the weather conditions, were allowed ​to return to their homes late on Saturday.In Italy, several bush fires forced the closure for several hours of a southern section of the ​Rome ring road as well ⁠as of a motorway leading into the capital, causing major traffic disruption.In Italy's southern Puglia region, tourists were evacuated from seaside resorts due to a large wildfire in the Gargano area, the national fire department said. Some were taken away via sea by the coast guard, the ANSA news agency added.More fires led to the temporary suspension of railway traffic around the city of Acireale in eastern Sicily and on the eastern Adriatic line ⁠south of the ​city of Termoli, rail company RFI said.Pope Leo, speaking from his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, offered spiritual support.'In ​light of the devastating wildfires that have affected various areas of France and Spain in recent days, I wish to express my solidarity and closeness, and I invite everyone to pray for those affected and for the rescue workers engaged in relief efforts,' ​he said.