Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in southwestern France and Spain as extreme wildfires intensify. At least three people have died, including two firefighters. Many houses have been lost.

While this region is no stranger to fire, our analysis shows these wildfires are off the charts. A very hot summer primed many areas for fire. When they ignited, they spread ferociously. The area of land burned in France is already 40% larger than the previous record year.

Some fires pose threats to large cities such as Bordeaux in France and Madrid in Spain. For the first time ever recorded in France, a fire thunderstorm (pyrocumulonimbus) formed over fires and made them worse. French President Emmanuel Macron described the fires as “unprecedented”.

A Spanish firefighter told AP the fires were extremely hard to fight:

the fire is so virulent and has such power that no matter what you do, you can’t put it out.

the fire is so virulent and has such power that no matter what you do, you can’t put it out.

Authorities are scrambling to control the fires before another heatwave begins later this week.

How bad are these fires?

We have compiled data for this article showing just how unusual these fires are, compared with previous wildfires.

Three of the 15 largest wildfires since the........

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