New wildfires raging in south-west France have torn through more than 1,000 hectares of land and forced the evacuation of residents amid record temperatures for September.
Fires that began to rage on Monday caused the evacuation of over 500 people in the Gironde region, as a smaller blaze burned south of Bordeaux, near Dax, where temperatures reached 39 degrees.
Strong winds hampered the efforts of hundreds of firefighters, who struggled to extinguish the flames throughout the night into Tuesday with little success.
Two Canadair aircraft specialised in firefighting — which already saw considerable work over the hot summer months in southern France — have been deployed to help, alongside helicopters and a Dash plane.
French weather agency Meteo France announced on Monday it had recorded record temperatures for the month of September, especially in the south-west due to a heatwave rising up from Morocco.
Temperatures hit 39.1 degrees in the south-western Landes region.
