Overview
- The Prince's Palace of Monaco released the rare joint statement on Thursday, with Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene expressing solidarity with evacuees and praise for firefighters.
- The fires have forced mass evacuations across Europe, with reporting that roughly 360,000 people were moved from homes in France and Spain since the blazes spread last week.
- France's southwest has seen the heaviest damage, with reports saying an area several times the size of Paris burned, while authorities have allowed tens of thousands of evacuees in some French areas to return.
- Active hotspots include a Cairngorms fire in Scotland that has burned since July 15 and a wildfire near the Suffolk/Sussex coast that prompted a UK major-incident response because of its proximity to a nuclear plant.
- Royal warnings that the fires result from major climate disruption heighten political and public pressure for faster environmental action and sustained support for emergency crews and recovery in affected communities.