PARIS  –  Extreme conditions: Temperatures will soar in France and Spain this week with no rain forecast to relieve the conditions fueling wildfires in the hardest hit regions of both countries. French authorities have warned of an “intense” heat wave will peak tomorrow, and Spain’s will last until Sunday. CNN is tracking the spread of the fires, and the scale of the devastation compared to prior years. The heat is likely to make already dangerous fire conditions much worse and face masks have been issued to areas affected by air pollution.   The wildfires ravaging an area just west of Madrid are “improving little by little,” local authorities say. More than 63,000 people have been evacuated from their homes near the Spanish capital. In eastern Spain, ordnance left over from the country’s civil war almost a century ago poses an additional threat. As wildfires continue to ravage areas across France, authorities are warning residents across most of the country to be cautious of poor air quality, and are urging people to stay indoors if possible.  Only three out of 45 areas across France are currently experiencing “average” air quality, according to Atmo France, a network of air quality monitoring associations in the country. Ten areas are experiencing “bad” air quality, it says. Tomorrow, air pollution is forecast to be even worse, with only one city – Brest in northwestern France – currently predicted to have “average” air quality, according to Atmo France. The department of Hérault in southern France – which includes Montpellier – warned people on Sunday about an episode of “atmospheric pollution” because of the wildfires, suggesting that people limit any “intense activities” outside.  Yesterday, the department of Lozère, also in southern France, described an “episode of pollution” caused by “fine particles in the atmosphere.” It also suggested that people avoid or reduce intense physical activity, both indoors and outdoors. Richard Pope, an atmospheric scientist, told CNN yesterday that the air pollution in Bordeaux has spiked to six times the levels described as safe by the World Health Organization.

A photo taken by climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf on a family vacation shows a child playing on a French beach against a dystopian background of orange skies and thick plumes of smoke.  Rahmstorf, a professor at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, was in Lacanau, in the Gironde region, last week, about 12 miles from where France’s huge blaze started last Wednesday.  He first noticed a plume of smoke rising over the land on Wednesday, while he was surfing in the ocean. Then on Friday, “the wind changed (direction) and the smoke was blown over Lacanau, which is when the eerie orange photos were taken,” he said. He and his family decided to leave that evening, fleeing to Bordeaux. But even in the city, “the air was not clear and smelled of burning wood,” he told CNN.

Despite the visceral scenes and the curtailed vacation, Rahmstorf says the scale and ferocity of the wildfires does not surprise him. “I have been well aware for decades that such disasters would increasingly become our reality.”