Wildfire of 'exceptional scale' breaks out in forest near Paris

A wildfire of "exceptional scale" has broken out in a forest near Paris, as the country battles it third heatwave of the summer.

Two firefighting planes have been rushed to the region to tackle the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest, which sits around 60km (40 miles) southeast of the French capital.

Officials said the fire, which has burned 800 hectares and was still spreading, was "very virulent" and of "exceptional scale", according to French newspaper Le Monde.

Around 15 homes in the nearby village of Vaudoue have been evacuated and firefighters were defending several other towns in the area, the paper reported the local fire service as saying.

The fire has also led to the partial closure of the A6 motorway, which is the country's main north-south highway, and smaller fires disrupted high-speed train services

More than 400 firefighters worked through the night in an attempt to contain the wildfire in the historic forest.

"The fight continues today," the French fire service said on X.

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Several wildfires raged across France over the weekend as temperatures soared, reaching the mid-30s in the capital.

The country's interior minister Laurent Nunez said 32 people have been arrested since the beginning of the summer in connection with wildfires.

"Those unacceptable acts, which have disastrous consequences and mobilise our firefighters at the risk of their lives, now fall into the hands of the justice system," he said. "We will continue our determined action and will not let anything slide."

In a post on X French President Emmanuel Macron said nine out of 10 wildfires start because of human activity.

More than 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of land have burned across France since the start of 2026, roughly double the area compared to the same period last year, according to Reuters.

Last month was France's hottest June on record, with deaths rising by nearly a third during the hottest week.

Wildfires have also torn through regions of Spain, Portugal and Greece.

The number killed in a blaze in Spain's southeastern Almeria province rose to 13 over the weekend, when a 93-year-old British woman died of burns.

(c) Sky News 2026: Wildfire of 'exceptional scale' breaks out in forest near Paris