Wildfires in France, Spain force more than 300,000 to evacuate as flames near Bordeaux

Wildfires raging across France and Spain have forced more than 300,000 residents and tourists to evacuate as of Sunday (local time).

French fire authorities are struggling to contain the blazes as worsening weather conditions, including strong winds, hamper firefighting efforts, according to Britain's The Times and the AP and AFP news agencies.

By Sunday morning, the flames had spread to within about 15 kilometers of Bordeaux, France's premier wine-producing region. Officials in the Gironde department, where Bordeaux is located, said they evacuated an additional 55,000 people from five villages overnight, bringing the total number of evacuees in the area to 220,000.

In the neighboring Landes department, wildfires forced another 36,000 people to evacuate.

Vegetation dried out by this summer's scorching heat, combined with strong winds, has allowed the fires to spread uncontrollably. By Sunday morning, some 42,000 hectares (420 square kilometers) — four times the area of Paris — had burned in Gironde alone.

Across France, 2,500 firefighters, 18 firefighting aircraft and military transport planes have been deployed.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday night that "France is showing unity at this hour when the flames are putting our country to a serious test," adding that the country would "rebuild and recover."

Spain declared a national state of emergency as wildfires swept through the country. Some 1,200 soldiers and 400 vehicles were deployed to fight fires in the Madrid, Avila and Valencia regions.

Authorities said firefighting efforts in the Madrid region had made progress, slowing the spread of the blaze, though it had not been fully contained. As of Sunday, about 60,000 people had been evacuated from the Madrid region, 30,000 from Avila and 15,000 from Castellon.

Spain's Ministry of Environment said wildfires have burned 153,000 hectares across the country this year, compared with 24,000 hectares during the same period last year.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who was visiting Avila, said "difficult hours remain ahead, but overnight the firefighting work was positive."