We fled French holiday at 3am to escape wildfires – the flames were 500 yards away

British holidaymakers have described fleeing “horrific” French wildfires with flames towering several stories high as they drove down the only escape route from a popular tourist resort. Evacuees from the Cap Ferret peninsula were forced to flee with their children down the road linking to the mainland as they drove past walls of flames. It comes as a new 40°C heatwave threatened to compound firefighters’ efforts to control unprecedented blazes that have raged for days Shorts Firefighters in France and Spain are battling infernos fuelled by record-breaking heat, with around 300,000 people displaced in one of the continent’s biggest evacuations since the Second World War. Around 220,000 people have been evacuated in the region around Bordeaux, where France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said an “unprecedented” blaze in Gironde, “has a life of its own”, with the fire as close as nine miles from the city outskirts. Wildfires in the region have razed more than 42,000 hectares of land, an area four times the size of Paris, with French firefighters warning the flames could last months. The Gironde prefecture, which is coordinating emergency responses in south west France, said the flames have generated self-feeding firestorms with lightning bolts that ignited more fires. No new evacuations were announced on Monday, with Nuñez saying the fire had stopped growing, but he urged people to avoid the region, with authorities in Gironde banning holiday camps for children and people with disabilities. In Spain, wildfires have burned out of control around Madrid and the Valencia region, with 76,000 people evacuated and 30,000 others confined to their homes. David Morton, 53, his wife Annie, 50, and their two sons, aged 18 and 14, had to escape Cap Ferret after receiving an emergency evacuation message on their phones (Photo: David Morton) A fire raging in Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching 193 square miles, an area five times the size of Barcelona, the Spanish government said. Hadja Lahbib, the EU’s commissioner for crisis management, said damage from Europe’s wildfires this summer is likely to exceed previous records. British tourists joined an exodus from Cap Ferret peninsula after authorities ordered an evacuation of the area in the early hours on Friday morning. David Morton, 53, had rented a house in Cap Ferret with his two sons, aged 18 and 14, and his wife, Annie, 50, but weren’t overly concerned when they saw smoke on Wednesday from the fire about seven miles away. “But when we went to bed on the Thursday night, I guess the sky had been getting a bit more dark, and the cloud had carried on drifting down from the fire,” he told The i Paper. “And we could see in the far distance this kind of dark orange glow that was in the forest.” David Morton and his family drove past flamed several stories high as they joined thousands fleeing French wildfires threatening Cap Ferret (Photo: David Morton) At 3am, they received emergency alerts on their phone in French warning them to evacuate, so they got in their car and drove off down the D106 road off the peninsula. “Within about 45 minutes, we’d driven past the main fire,” he said. “It was, I’d say, 500 meters away. When you looked across and saw the fire, it became clear just what a sort of raging inferno it was, higher than the trees, five or six stories high, burning with a really bright yellow flame. “You could tell that it was dry timber that was burning. But luckily, by that stage, we were then driving past it, and we were out of danger.” A forest fire rages in Saint-Jean-d’Illac, about 20 miles from Bordeaux (Photo: Romain Perrocheau/ AFP via Getty Images) The ash from the fire was so thick he had to use the windscreen wipers to brush it off the car as they drove. The headteacher from Gloucester said he and his wife wanted to stay calm for their two children and focus on getting away from the danger. With hotels inundated with evacuees, they sat in their car until a bakery opened for breakfast, then drove to a friend’s home three hours away in order to find somewhere to stay. The family were able to fly home on Saturday. It is the third year in a row a region they visited on holiday has been hit by wildfires after blazes in Canada and Spain in the past two summers, with scientists warning of an increase in extreme heat-related disasters from global warming. Sarah Corbett-Winder, 40, with her children (L-R) Lyon, eight, Celeste, four and Nancy, seven, and their two sausage dogs, Margaret and Marigold, decided to leave Cap Ferret on Thursday evening, driving past (Photo: Supplied) Sarah Corbett-Winder, 40, a fashion stylist who lives in north Wales, was on holiday with her children Lyon, eight, Nancy, seven and Celeste, four and their two sausage dogs, Margaret and Marigold, when they decided to flee on Thursday evening. She said: “We were hanging out by the pool, just trying to remain calm, and it was quite smoky, it was like looking like it was going to rain. “Our neighbours next door to us had said they were staying, and they were very relaxed about it. “And then suddenly at 7pm. they banged over at our fence and said they were getting out of there. And suddenly I was like, okay, I think I need to go.” Grabbing an emergency bag she had packed with their passports, they jumped into the car and, with Lyon navigating in the front seat, drove away. Sarah Corbett-Winder, 40 and her three children had to drive past walls of flames as they evacuated Cap Ferret (Photo: Supplied) “It was kind of scary. We were actually sort of driving through and past the fires, and all the smoke was just horrific,” she said. “There was a huge feeling of relief once we got past it. We were only about 15, 20 minutes away from the fire. So it was incredibly close.” They managed to find accommodation in Bordeaux and had been due to stay on holiday in the area this week, but are unsure if they can return to Cap Ferret. “It’s been horrific and it’s horrible to see so many people’s homes have been destroyed,” she said. What are my rights? Can I cancel my holiday to Spain or France? The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not advised against travel to either country. This means that package holiday providers are not required to refund your trip unless it has changed significantly – for example, if your hotel has closed due to wildfires. Similarly, if you booked flights and accommodation separately and your hotel is open as usual, then you are not due a refund. You could try contacting your provider and asking if they will let you change the dates of your holiday without charge. My holiday has been disrupted, am I due a refund? If you have booked a package holiday, your tour operator is responsible for handling significant disruption and should provide an appropriate solution. This may be a change to your booking, a different holiday or a refund. Many package holidays are also financially protected through schemes such as ATOL or ABTA.Those who have booked accommodation separately should be offered a refund from their provider if their booking is cancelled. Does travel insurance cover wildfires?It depends on the policy. If your policy includes trip disruption, then costs resulting from a wildfire may be covered. Some policies specifically cover costs caused by delays or disruption due to a natural disaster. By Emma Featherstone Evacuees in France and Spain have been forced to sleep in makeshift shelters in sports halls and exhibition centres after escaping. Specialist French military A400M planes have been dropping fire retardant on land where wildfires are burning. “What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. EU officials warned that wildfires could still be burning as late as November. The Prince of Wales shared a message of sympathy, with William saying on social media that the fires were “a stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate.” He said in the message, signed with his initial indicating he had posted it personally: “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the devastating wildfires across France, Spain and the UK. “We are deeply grateful to the firefighters, emergency services and volunteers working tirelessly in extraordinarily difficult conditions. “These events are a stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate and the importance of protecting both people and nature. W”