Emergency crews were battling several wildfires across southern France on Thursday after blazes consumed up to 1,200 hectares of land the previous day, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said during a visit to Marseille.
The fires broke out two to three weeks earlier than is typical for the season, with authorities reporting blazes near Lançon, Narbonne and Oupia.
Lecornu said around 7,000 fires have occurred since the start of the season, destroying 8,700 hectares of land, although he did not specify the period covered by those figures.
Around 2,000 firefighters were deployed on Wednesday and Thursday alone, as authorities described the situation as tense.
France experienced an unusually long and intense heatwave in June, although temperatures have eased in recent days. While heat itself does not cause wildfires, high temperatures, drought, low humidity and strong winds can significantly increase the risk of outbreaks and accelerate their spread.
