Europe is battling with devastating wildfires as scorching temperatures continue to rise, with France recording a sharp increase in heat-related deaths and Spain enduring one of its deadliest blazes in decades.    

At least four Brits are among 12 people killed after a wildfire swept through a remote expat community in southern Spain on Thursday night, with victims dying as they tried to escape the flames in cars and on foot.

A further eight people were injured and 23 remain missing after the blaze broke out late on Thursday in Bedar, near Almeria, on the south-eastern coast of Spain. 

Some six Brits are among those unaccounted for, prompting British families to take to social media to plead for help in finding their missing loved ones.

Bedar has one of the highest concentrations of Brits in Spain, according to a local journalist. Out of the 1,009 people living there, 447 are British nationals, according to statistics from 2022.

Most victims died after ignoring shelter-in-place instructions before attempting to flee, Antonio Sanz, head of Andalusia's emergency services, said. 

The majority of those who lost their lives are believed to have been foreign nationals.

Some tried to escape via a dry riverbed that 'turned into a death trap', Mr Sanz said, while the death toll is expected to rise as search operations continue. 

Officials believe four of the victims were British after they were found in a burned-out right-hand-drive vehicle. 

'Everything seems to indicate they're from Britain,' Mr Sanz said. However, they are yet to be formally identified. 

Meanwhile, seven people died after abandoning their vehicles and attempting to escape on foot.

Dean Taylor, who splits his time between Spain and the UK, said he narrowly escaped the fires by taking back roads out of the area. 

'It was quite terrifying,' he said. 'It's a very sad day, isn't it? It's devastating really.'

The blaze was still burning on Friday afternoon as around 150 firefighters and 220 soldiers from Spain's military emergency unit battled to bring it under control. 

The cause of the fire has not been confirmed, but people who reported the fire claimed a fallen power line sparked a blaze that swept rapidly into a nearby forest. 

More than 7,900 acres of forest and farmland has already been destroyed, with difficult terrain and dry vegetation fuelling the flames - which Andalusia's regional leader Juan Manuel Moreno described as a 'ticking time bomb'.

The wildfire is one of Spain's deadliest in recent years and comes as Europe continues to grapple with another intense summer heatwave, with temperatures regularly exceeding 40C.

In June, Spain recorded several days of exceptional heat, with more than 1,000 deaths due to high temperatures. 

Elsewhere in France, deaths increased by nearly a third during the hottest week of the hottest recorded June.

The country recorded more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave, according to official figures, and 300 during scorching temperatures in May. 

Temperatures reached 40C across western and central parts of the country, peaking at 37C in Paris, as the country faces its third heatwave since May.

In response to scorching heat, the French government announced on Friday it would be opening 'cooling centres' for vulnerable citizens, including the elderly and homeless.

French authorities warned of a very high risk of wildfires after several large blazes scorched thousands of hectares in the south this week, disrupting the Tour de France and stretching firefighting resources. 

The largest fire, in the eastern Pyrenees near the Spanish border, eased by Friday but already blazed through around 12,000 acres and forced the temporary evacuation of more than 10,000 people from nearby villages. 

In France's southeastern Drôme region, the now-evacuated village of Barsac was blanketed with thick smoke on Wednesday. The flames swept through into the next day, forcing 250 residents to flee their homes. 

'We had a meeting at the community center around 9 pm, and they told us we had to evacuate because of the smoke,' Emilien, a winegrower, told Le Monde. 

'We looked for places to stay, I packed a few things, and by 11 pm, everyone had left.' He has since been sleeping in his car.

Scientists say climate change, driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas, is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and prolonged dry conditions, leaving many regions more vulnerable to destructive wildfires.

Spain has long been prone to devastating wildfires. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, almost 1,520 square miles burned during last year's fire season, an area roughly twice the size of London. Four people died.

Spain's deadliest recorded wildfire occurred in 1979, when 21 people were killed near Lloret de Mar, north of Barcelona.

In neighbouring Portugal, 66 people died in the 2017 Pedrogao Grande wildfire, including 47 who became trapped on a road while attempting to flee in their cars.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X that he was 'deeply saddened and devastated by the terrible consequences of the wildfire'.

He said in May that Spain would deploy its largest-ever summer wildfire response this year.