Devastating forest fires have rampaged throughout Europe this week, killing five people in France and displacing thousands of residents and holidaymakers.

Dry weather and temperatures of 40C in Portugal have led to huge blazes which are being fought by 500 firefighters and 300 soldiers.

This debate is now closed. Read selection of your experiences and comments.

As it has turned out that the forest was deliberately set on fire, I want to share the deep feeling of despair and hopelessness over a mankind which seems to have no limits of self destruction. I feel like crying just by the thought of my next trip to the French Riviera in September when I have to witness the result of this disaster which I have only followed through the media so far. I pray that joint efforts will lead to as fast recovery as possible for the nature in the region. I extend all my compassion to those who suffered direct losses due to this fire, either by losing their loved ones, by injuries or by destruction of property.
Susanne Giraud, Turkey

I just got back from St Tropez, my partner and I got caught in the smoke above Ste Maxime on Monday evening, the traffic was completely at a standstill and there were panicking people running down from the hill with their children. The car had filled with smoke even with the windows closed, but the local police were great and got us to safety very quickly. I pray for those who have lost their lives and those who have lost their homes and livelihood.
Gordon Roberts, UK

Janet Mournard took this photo of a "canadair" from her house in South France

At present all is well. The last fire has been put under control thanks to the intervention of 800 firemen of which several have come from Italy to give their help. There's not much left of the "Massif des Maures" which has already burned twice. Often it is the sea that stops the fire but, of course, it burns everything in its passage. We were told to get ready for evacuation on Monday evening but luckily the fire was put under control before that was necessary.

The firemen who are called 'soldiers of fire' are extraordinary. To fight the fires they have to be well equipped and their clothes can weigh up to 10 kilograms. Which means that with the heat-wave and the heat of the fire they can have temperatures of 60� underneath all that, therefore they have to take mineral salts and drink 3 litres of water for each fire fought!!!

We'll have to wait 30 years for the pine trees to grow again and between 10-15 years for the scrubland, not to mention all the poor animals and reptiles burnt. Not far from here is a tortoise sanctuary and not even their shell protected them.
Janet Mournard, France

La Gaillarde, from Danie Langford

We were holidaying with relatives at La Gaillarde, Les Issambres, Le Var, when the neighbour rang to say that the fire which we had been watching all afternoon had reached our back garden. We left at 11 pm in total panic, fear and chaos with all the residents. We had NO warning whatsoever whereas the campers near the beach were evacuated at 8pm. We left on Friday with fires at Frejus and Grasse on both sides of the road.
Danie Langford, UK

Flying in from Amsterdam we flew along the coastline. The sight of the vast devastation and ongoing fires that could be seen from the plane shocked the beautiful scenery. From Frejus all the way to deep inland there was smoke and fires going on, not only on the edges, but also still inside the burned area. As these fires happen almost every year, I suggest the forest to be closed off completely during the tourist season to avoid these fires happening accidentally. We who live here all have a very high esteem for our firefighters, who have enormous courage and do not hesitate to put their lives on the line to protect others.
Adrian Froon, France

Beach club, St Tropez submitted by Stephen Proops

My parents live in Ste Maxime and I am studying in Manchester. I got a phone call on Monday from my brother living in Nice, telling me there were huge fires and that he could see enormous clouds of smoke from his apartment. Telephone networks were down, we eventually managed to talk to our parents who had left the house because they could hardly breathe and ashes were falling down. They stayed on the beach until the firemen allowed them to go back home. Fortunately my house was not damaged and everybody was safe in the neighbourhood. But you really feel powerless when you witness such a catastrophe from abroad.
Alexandre, Manchester, UK

We were on holiday when the first fires started, it was the most frightening experience. We were camping in Ste Maxime, we had been to Monte Carlo for the day, and came back to find that the road we needed to use was closed, due to the fire, the sky was black and falling ash everywhere. We saw the water planes going over for two days to help put out the fire. It wasn't until the fire was completely out, that we found out that it was only three miles away from the campsite. That was scary enough, I feel for all the people involved in the recent fires. We were very lucky, and did not have to be evacuated or lose any of our possessions.
Sue Ashford, England

St Tropez, from Captain Siwan

The burnt and blackened stumps of the cork oaks stick up from a charred, stony, ash-covered landscape. The smell of old fires is in the air. Houses that once were hidden or just to be glimpsed through trees now stand on this naked, depressing place. This is what it's like one side of our village. The odd patches of surviving trees seem to emphasise the destruction, the one comfort is the presence of the sapeur pompiers (firefighters) who have taken over all available large car parks, ready to fight any outbreak that might occur. A week's rain would be nice.
Jack Tuckwood, Plan de la Tour, France

The aeroplanes carrying water swoop 20 metres over my house Paul Webber, France

I live on Mont Boron in Nice. The aeroplanes carrying water swoop 20 metres over my house on the hilltop and then swoop down into ville Franche Sur Mer, skimming the rooftops. They then scoop up the water from the bay by landing on the surface and then take off, circling around. I counted 12 at one point. One night I happened to wake up very late. Through the blinds there was an orange flicker, when I opened the blinds the hill opposite was completely ablaze. We have also had the power shut down in the whole city of Nice to divert to areas where operations to put out the fires are.
Paul Webber, France

Returned today from 11 days' stay in Frejus. Whilst waiting to say goodbyes yesterday, we noticed a lot of people running through the campsite, congregating, all staring to the same place. We got out to have a closer look - another fire had broken out. The wind was blowing it towards St Tropez, and I said, if the wind changes, this campsite would be in trouble... the wind was really strong.

Fire sweeping through Frejus, submitted by an anonymous reader

We left, and our route took us very close to the fire, the smoke cloud was immense. You would have thought a bomb had gone off. As we cleared a bend in the road, smoke filled the motor lanes, a helicopter hummed above us, and then dropped its load of water - the trees to our left were on fire. A fleet of firefighting vehicles overtook us, so we thought the fire was obviously getting out of control.

We got a text message from one of my son's friends back at the campsite, to say they had been evacuated, and later another, to say that some of the site had been damaged. It's only coming back and seeing the news that shows us how very serious it all had been, and that we were very lucky.
Dawn, England

Our daughter Tessa and her fianc� Nick, are (were) staying at our mobile home in Frejus prior to their marriage next month. Their third night in France was spent sleeping in a car. The campsite has been wiped out apart from our caravan along with their passports and mobile phones. Maybe their marriage is destined to have some kind of divine intervention!!
Stewart Grant, UK

The water-bombers are just fantastic to watch Gavin, Grasse, France

We can clearly see the huge smoke clouds above Frejus and St Maxime when the fires are burning. They look like enormous thunderclouds and some of the fires seem to go on for days. There are also some smaller fires breaking out in populated areas all over the Riviera - we've had four here in Grasse in the past week.

Occasionally we hear announcements on the local radio telling us to keep our garden hoses inside the house as a "last resort" so we can get out and to leave gates open so the fire brigade can get in if they need to. The "pompiers" are doing a smashing job though (most of them are volunteers as well) and the water-bombers are just fantastic to watch. Send us some of your English rain please!
Gavin, Grasse, France

Between Frejus and St Tropez, submitted by Captain Siwan

My daughters are also in Issambres on holiday with family. They told me a helicopter went overhead last night with a loudspeaker telling all to evacuate. There was no electric and only one candle in the house. They went to the beach and people had even taken animals there. There was pandemonium on the roads. All the local swimming pools are very black.

My daughter said it seemed like a war situation with planes flying overhead, loudspeakers, darkness and not the best conditions when breathing. This is such a beautiful area of France, I have known it for many years as well as all around the adjoining hills and villages. My thoughts are with everyone down there.
Val, Suffolk, UK

Everyone is very shocked but happy to be alive and undamaged David Robbins, England

My wife was staying with a teacher friend at her house in Les Issambres - at the top of the hill, next to the open fields. They were evacuated early last night to Roquebrune Sur Argens along with their guests from the UK. They were allowed back to the house this morning and it has survived - despite the fire having burnt out cars and gardens either side. As you can guess, everyone is very shocked but happy to be alive and undamaged.

We are all very grateful for the valiant efforts of the police, firemen and armed forces to protect people and property. We also offer a prayer and a thought for the relatives of those killed last night. If it was deliberately started (which seems very likely) - I hope they catch who did it and charge them with murder.
David Robbins, England

From my vantage point of the beach next to that of Port Grimaud last Friday afternoon, I watched as what appeared to be a small cloud above a tree-covered hill to my left grew. It was about 10 minutes before I realised the full extent of what was happening - I had not realised that I was actually staring at what would quickly turn into a raging forest fire - typical of the region.

The 'cloud' grew until the hilltop was barely visible through a dense fog of smoke. The fire stretched what looked like several miles in under an hour. It was quite scary watching the news reports knowing that, had my family have stayed on for an extra week, we would have been caught up in this mass devastation and realising how many people's lives are at risk.
Zoe Vokes, UK

Plan de la Tour from Amanda and Martin Russell

I have just returned from Les Issambres in the VAR region. We were evacuated from our villa. The sky had been darkening with thick smoke during the afternoon. At around 7pm the police arrived to inform us that we should prepare to leave if the fires got worse. About 30 minutes later they returned and advised us to leave. We left with kids, passports, money and insurance.

The fire service in St Maxime told us it was safe to return at 11pm. It was obvious it was far from safe - the night sky was glowing orange and there was ash dropping from the sky. We moved back down the hill to the sanctuary of a car park by the beach. There were hundreds of people doing the same.
Ian McCulloch, UK

Everywhere is tinder dry. Now comes the realisation that having a villa surrounded by picturesque pine trees is not a good idea. I'm glad we live in a village on top of a hill with no trees.
John Pollard, France

Smoke from all the fires joined together and the sky was just smoke Anne Marie Huet, France

Living in the area of La Bouverie in the commune of Roquebrune Sur Argens last night was on of the most frightening ever, from our home we could see the flames advancing towards our home, there were three different fires that we could see burning all around our area. Smoke from all the fires joined together and the sky was just smoke. A moment came when the police began asking people to prepare to evacuate, prepare papers, put cars in the front of homes and prepare to go.

Around 21:30 the sky became orange, the smell was too much, ashes falling into gardens and on to rooftops, hosing down the outside of homes and gardens, an experience which I hope to never have again. Wish us luck over here and I wish luck to all those campers who have lost their belongings and I would like to thank the firefighters who risk their lives to save us.
Anne Marie Huet, France

Have had a property in Port-Grimaud for 20 years and never seen it as bad as this nor as close to home, but it has been exceptionally hot and dry this summer so if you want to purposefully start a fire it must be very easy to carry out.
Carl Sjogren, UK