South-west France is once again battling life-threatening bushfires as the continent swelters through a record-hot summer.
More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from towns south-west of Bordeaux by early Thursday morning (Australian time) and 62 square kilometres of land is on fire.
Locals are describing “apocalyptic” scenes as smoke blankets the Landes and Gironde regions, with black plumes visible over forest already charred by the massive bushfires that devastated the area in July.
Tweet from @PompiersFR
A major highway connecting the popular coastal tourist towns to the city of Bordeaux was closed as fires raged nearby.
More than 1000 firefighters are battling the flames, with the assistance of nine airplanes and two helicopters.
Locals have barely had time to relax since this massive fires swept the region last month – and now thousands must evacuate again. Photo: Twitter
The Gironde region was hit last month by major wildfires that forced the evacuation of more than 39,000 people, including residents and tourists.
France is this week in the midst of its fourth heat wave of the year as the country faces what the government warned is its worst drought on record.
Temperatures in the south of the country are expected to reach up to 40 degrees.