Forest fires continue to rage in the Gironde region near the southwestern French city of Bordeaux and have destroyed about 7,300 hectares of forest in four days, with firefighters still unable to contain the flames.
Firefighters battling two wildfires that have been raging in the Gironde region since Tuesday say the situation remains extremely difficult.
A thousand men and nine water bombers are participating in the fight to suppress two fires.
Several dwellings and restaurants were destroyed in the forest known as Teste-de-Buch near Arcachon. In the Landiras region, south of the city of Bordeaux, 4,200 hectares of forest have already been lost and 480 people had to be evacuated overnight.
In total, almost 11,000 people, mostly holidaymakers in campsites, have had to flee the two regions of Arcachon and Landiras since the crisis began earlier this week.
Tourist magnet Dune de Pilat, the highest sand dune in Europe, was closed to visitors after several thousand people were evacuated from local campsites this week.
Widespread forest fires
A fire in Spain that broke out in the eastern region of Extremadura on Monday has so far ravaged at least 4,000 hectares of land, local officials said.
Between January 1 and July 3, more than 70,300 hectares of forest went up in smoke in Spain, the government says - almost double the 10-year average.
In Portugal, over 2,000 firefighters are battling dozens of forest fires, including four considered "major".
Authorities said Wednesday that one person was dead after a body was found in a burned area in the northern Aveiro region.
In Greece, a helicopter helping to fight a forest fire on the island of Samos crashed into the Aegean Sea on Wednesday, killing two of its four crew members, the coast guard said Thursday.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Moroccan firefighters and soldiers battled late Thursday night to put out at least four inferno that were rampaging through forests in the kingdom's north, according to official sources.
In the provinces of Larache and Taza, almost 500 families were evacuated "as a precaution".
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