The fire has scorched some 4,600 hectares in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, local ​prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe said in a post on ​X.

“This morning conditions are deteriorating again,” Interior Minister Laurent ⁠Nunez warned on French TV station TF1. “Today the battle resumes.”

Early summer ​heatwaves in France and across western Europe in May and June have ​scorched vast areas of land, making them particularly vulnerable to wildfires this year.

The Trevillach blaze is burning in the vicinity of the third stage of the Tour ​de France.

Local authorities have closed the leg to the public ​to allow emergency services easy access to the area.

Although the race will proceed, ‌the ⁠motorcade of team vehicles that follows will now be kept to a minimum.

On the Spanish side of the border, the fire ravaged 2,200 hectares — 97% of them in the protected natural area of Les Gavarres — ​but Catalan authorities ​said late on ⁠Saturday that it was stable and would be completely extinguished during the week.

Police have arrested an employee ​of a company contracted by Catalonia’s regional government who ​is suspected ⁠of having sparked the wildfire by using an angle grinder at the side of a road.

South of Catalonia, in the eastern Castellon province, 500 ⁠people ​were evacuated after a wildfire entered the ​Sierra de Espadan national park, home to a significant cork oak forest.