Europe’s wildfire crisis forced more than 80,000 people to flee for safety yesterday, as holidaymakers boarded boats to escape fires on one French peninsula and Spanish officials ordered mass evacuations in towns near Madrid.

Both Spain and France called for European Union help as flames whipped up by strong winds and boosted by drought raced through tinder-dry forests.

France ordered the evacuation of 40,000 people on the upscale Cap Ferret peninsula south of Bordeaux. As 27 boats brought hundreds of people away from the fires, those with cars took the only usable road off the peninsula, known for its millionaire residences.

Another 23,000 people have been ordered out of homes and campsites further south in the Landes region. In Spain, more than 19,000 people have been evacuated or told to stay in their homes in towns in the Madrid region.

Two of the three major wildfires west of the city had merged into one, threatening one suburban town, said officials.

“We are living through a dramatic situation, not only in various Spanish provinces but also in regions of neighbouring countries,” said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, as smoke from the out-of-control fires drifted over the Spanish capital.

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Holidaymakers from Lege-Cap-Ferret disembark from a boat upon their arrival in Arcachon during an evacuation operation of the entire Cap-Ferret peninsula, in southwestern France, yesterday whilst a wildfire is spreading across the area. Photo: AFP

Some European regions have suffered at least two heatwaves since May.

And drought blamed on human-fueled climate change has heightened the threat from wildfires this year, the World Weather Attribution group said in a study published this week.

Three firefighters have been killed in France and Italy this week battling wildfires. French authorities stepped up evacuations. Regional fire chief, Marc Vermeulen, said that for several hours the flames were devouring between 800 and 1,000 hectares of forest an hour.