Wildfires raging in France’s Fontainebleau forest have forced home evacuations and disrupted train and motorway traffic, as a heatwave continues to grip Western Europe.
The wildfires broke out near a motorway outside Fontainebleau, located about 60km (42 miles) southeast of Paris and home to one of France’s best-known royal palaces.
By Monday morning, the flames had scorched more than 800 hectares (1,980 acres), fanned by hot winds.
The fires disrupted train lines and forced the partial closure of the A6 motorway, which connects the north and south of France. Fifteen homes had to be evacuated in the nearby village of Vaudoue.
About 400 firefighters mobilised to contain the fires across several towns in the area, and authorities sent two waterbombing planes on Monday to tackle the blazes.
Officials described the fires as “very virulent” and of “exceptional scale”.
Eric Brocardi, of France’s national federation of firemen, said this was the first time fire-bombing planes had to be sent from the hotter and drier south of France to extinguish fires in the Paris region.
Brocardi added that two firefighting helicopters and an observation aircraft were also sent to contain the fire.
The Paris region is currently experiencing a heatwave, which increases the risk of fires. Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group say that recent heatwaves would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change.
The ongoing heatwave in France has forced officials to shut down three nuclear power stations.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that forest fires had already consumed 17,000 hectares (42,008 acres) of land this year, “twice as much as the same period” in 2025, he added.
