Wildfire forces hundreds to flee in western Germany

Around 1,800 people had to flee their homes in western Germany overnight after a wildfire spread nearby, officials said Friday, with helicopters and army equipment deployed to help battle the flames.

A district of the town of Huertgenwald near the Belgian and Dutch borders was evacuated after the fire expanded from 25 hectares (around 60 acres) to 300 hectares by Friday morning.

German media reported explosions overnight as the fire set off wartime munitions which hampered the fight against the blaze in the hilly Eifel region of North Rhine-Westphalia state.

Residents were urged to "take only the most important personal items" with them as the fire drew nearer, with temporary shelters set up in a nearby school and a sports centre, officials said.

Around 300 emergency services personnel were deployed in an operation backed by helicopters and army tracked vehicles as emergency crew cut firebreaks through the woods.

"It's a really alarming feeling," local resident Sabine Baldus told broadcaster NTV.

She said she saw columns of black smoke on Thursday evening and left during the night. Now staying with an uncle nearby, she said the "smell is bad here too and there is ash falling from the sky".

District administrator Ralf Nolten told journalists later Friday that the fire had stabilised and further evacuations were not necessary "for now".

However, he warned that "we are not done yet" and that the fire could worsen again if the wind picks up.

Emergency services were also in action overnight fighting another wildfire further east near the Moehnesee lake, also in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Around 100 emergency service workers managed to contain that fire, despite dangerous conditions and difficult topography.

The EU's global warming monitor has said that Western Europe experienced its hottest June-July on record as climate change fuels an historic summer of heat, drought and wildfires.

The heatwave in late June saw Germany break its temperature record for three days in a row, hitting 41.7C.

Temperatures of up to 39C are expected in western Germany on Friday, with the current heatwave set to last into the weekend.

Meteorologist Ozden Terli warned that would mean "more moisture evaporating and the land drying out further".

Even if rain does fall soon, in many parts of Germany "the soil is dried solid, so not much moisture will be able to trickle in at first," Terli told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

"We need a period of sustained rain, which is not in sight."