Major wildfires spread across Europe amid record heat, with France detaining 474 people since July 1 over fire incidents, the Interior Ministry said Friday. The European Union described wildfire conditions in several parts of the continent as “extremely extreme.” Fires have also affected Croatia, Germany, Spain, Greece and the United Kingdom, burning homes and prompting evacuations of residents and tourists.

French authorities said 183 of those detained were minors, and about 70 percent were suspected of deliberately starting fires; the remainder faced allegations of unintentionally causing them. More than 525 people were evacuated from Luglon in the Landes department, where a new blaze burned about 1,100 hectares of dry pine forest in less than 24 hours. Around 500 firefighters and six water-dropping aircraft were deployed.

In western Germany, more than 2,000 people left homes near the Huertgen forest fire, while unexploded Second World War ammunition hindered firefighting. Spain evacuated people from 16 towns and villages and moved the remains of three 11th-century Aragon kings from a monastery. Greece evacuated about 500 tourists by small boats. Scientists said climate change is making extreme weather more frequent and intense, increasing wildfire risk through dry soils, heat and strong winds.