A major fire in the historic Fontainebleau forest south of Paris has triggered evacuations of some residential neighbourhoods, disrupted train services and halted highway traffic.
The Fontainebleau forest fire is unusual for its proximity to the French capital, about 70 kilometres (42 miles). The region hosts the Fontainebleau Chateau, favoured by Napoleon and is popular with visitors from Paris and beyond.
Two water-dumping planes were deployed over the area along with hundreds of firefighters, regional fire service spokesperson Paul Laurain told public broadcaster France-Info.
Trains to and from the bustling Gare de Lyon train station were disrupted late Sunday but were returning to normal Monday morning. A section of the busy A6 highway leading southeast of Paris was shut down because of fire risk.
Large fires in southern France have already scorched thousands of hectares (acres) since last week, disrupting the Tour de France cycling race and stretching firefighting resources.
France is experiencing the peak of its third heat wave of the summer, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit ) across western and central areas and around 37 C (98 F) in Paris.
The blaze was among several wildfires in western Europe, which is under its third red-alert heat wave this year.
In Spain, 10 people were still unaccounted for on Monday from a fire that ripped through a remote southern expat community last week, killing 13 people in one of the country's deadliest blazes.
Spain’s deadly wildfire
A 98-year-old British national died Sunday in a hospital from injuries sustained in the Los Gallardos wildfire, elevating the death toll to 13.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was expected to visit the site of the fire on Monday. Regional authorities said the blaze was contained Sunday after affecting some 70 square kilometres (27 square miles) of forest and farmland — larger than the size of Manhattan.
Spain is experiencing extreme heat, which combined with wind and little rainfall is creating the ideal conditions for small wildfires to grow unchecked.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
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