Thousands of people were evacuated in southern France on Monday as 'catastrophic' wildfires ravaged the region, while poisonous clouds swept through Greece and Costa Brava in Spain was put on alert.It comes as temperatures across Europe are on the rise again, predicted to reach 40C in parts still suffering the aftermath of a recent record-breaking heatwave. Hundreds of firefighters are battling blazes that have devastated more than 19,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of land - an area more than twice the size of Manhattan - across Portugal, Spain, France and Greece. In southwestern France near the city of Perpignan, 700 firefighters backed by special aircraft battled to control a 'gigantic' blaze spreading in a hard-to-reach remote area, with more than 10,000 local residents evacuated.Fanned by wind, intense heat and exceptionally dry air, the fire has nearly tripled in size since early Sunday, devouring 4,600 hectares and leaving a firefighter and a resident injured, local authorities said.'The fire came within 300 metres of the houses. We were taken aback by how fast it spread, it was staggering - bordering on panic,' said Patrice, a 53-year-old resident of the village of Trevillach.'We started seeing smoke around 10.30pm, then it kept coming closer and closer. Someone from the town hall knocked on our door around 1.00am to tell us to leave,' said Charlotte Pignol, 30, who was among the first to be evacuated from her home early on Sunday.The blazes come shortly after a heatwave in June, one of Europe's worst, during which thousands of excess deaths were registered and which would have been 'virtually impossible' without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.