Wildfires Force Evacuations and Threaten Tour de France

Wildfires across Portugal, Spain, France, Greece and other countries have forced mass evacuations and threatened the Tour de France.

The fires, which have already devastated more than 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land, come as the region has just come out of major heat waves in May and June that have been blamed for thousands of deaths.

French authorities ban spectators at Tour de France stage

In southwestern France, 10,500 people were told to evacuate their homes near Perpignan amid a wildfire in the Pyrenees that has ravaged more than 4,600 hectares.

Monday's third stage of the Tour de France cycle race through the Pyrenees is to take part without spectators amid the threat of fire, authorities said.

Only riders and their team vehicles will be allowed on the 196-kilometer (122-mile) stage crossing from Spain into France.

Regional prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe told reporters: "I regret having to say this: It will be, in France at least, a stage of the Tour de France without spectators."

Another fire in a mountainous district of the southeastern Drome department is being combated by hundreds of firefighters.

Spain, Greece and Portugal see major blazes

In the northeastern Girona region of Spain, a wildfire that erupted on Friday and threatened the tourist beaches of the Costa Brava has burnt out nearly 2,200 hectares (5,400 acres) of land and was still not under control on Monday.

Temperatures in the country have risen to more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country, fueling fears of new blazes.

In Greece, a forest fire set alight two factories in Thessaloniki in the north of the country, with authorities to evacuating the surrounding area and issuing warnings to residents to keep windows closed.

In Portugal, a wildfire that devastated some 13,000 hectares of forest and scrub land in a northern district has reportedly been brought under control. Four regions in the country still remained on a heat alert on Monday.

Scientists agree that the burning of fossil fuels by humans is changing the climate in such a way that heat waves and other extreme weather phenomena are much more likely and severe, thus increasing the risk of both wildfires and flooding.