Madrid blaze outpaces crews as Spain declares national emergency

Several separate fires outside Madrid have joined into a single inferno that firefighting units can no longer hold back, and large numbers of residents have had to leave their homes.

With scorching temperatures, gusty winds and expanding flame lines making the situation worse, Spanish officials have placed the country under a national emergency.

In the Madrid area alone, evacuations have topped 30,000. Across the border in south-west France, wildfires have driven more than 110,000 people from their communities.

Emergency crews and military units in Spain and France are both being deployed to fight the rapidly advancing flames.