Aerial views of the wildfire in southwestern France on Tuesday (July 28) showed huge clouds of smoked from burnt forest grounds, as firefighters responded to a slight restart of fires in already scorched zones in the Gironde area.

Crews raced on Tuesday to subdue huge wildfires that have forced unprecedented evacuations of tens of thousands of people across France as Western Europe braced for another heatwave.

The fires have torn through a region already battered by a blisteringly hot and dry summer. Crews were seeking to capitalize on more favourable weather before a new wave of higher temperatures settled in from Wednesday.

Firefighters contained the forest blaze near the major city of Bordeaux overnight.

"We can see here what we expected to happen today - flare-ups strengthened and brought on by the wind that has arisen," firefighter Commander Matthieu Jomain said. "These new weather forecasts will of course make our colleagues' work more complex."

Wildfires in France have now burned more area than at the same time in any year since 2006.

This week's heatwave is expected to build quickly and peak on Wednesday (July 29).

Meteo France also expected the heat to peak on Wednesday, when temperatures in Paris could hit 38 C, but added that the duration of the heatwave "will be determined in the coming days."

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Aerial views of France wildfire as fire crews face slight flare-ups

VIDEO SHOWS: AERIAL VIEWS OF SMOKE, FIREFIGHTING PLANE, BURNT FORESTS / FIREFIGHTERS RESPONDING TO FLAMES RESTARTING / SOUNDBITES OF FIREFIGHTERS' SPOKESPERSON

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: IN AIR, OVER GIRONDE DEPARTMENT, FRANCE (JULY 28, 2026) (AGENCY POOL - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF BIG CIRCULAR CLOUD OF SMOKE BILLOWING FROM GROUND

2. VARIOUS OF FIRE TRUCKS AROUND CLOUD OF SMOKE

3. CLOUD OF SMOKE BILLOWING FROM GROUND

4. DASH FIREFIGHTING PLANE DOUSING FOREST WITH FIRE RETARDANT

5. VARIOUS OF SMOKE BILLOWING FROM FOREST (AUDIO AS INCOMING)

6. SMOKE BILLOWING FROM FOREST, MAN INSIDE HELICOPTER

7. VARIOUS OF SMOKE BILLOWING FROM FOREST

8. BURNT FOREST GROUND, SMOKE

9. VARIOUS OF SMOKE BILLOWING FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN FOREST

10. VARIOUS OF BURNT LAND

11. CLOUD OF SMOKE BILLOWING IN DISTANCE

12. VARIOUS OF SMOKE, BURNT FORESTS

13. BURNT FOREST

14. BURNT FOREST NEAR COAST

LEGE-CAP-FERRET, FRANCE (JULY 28, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

15. VARIOUS OF BRUSH IN FLAMES

16. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS ON FIRE TRUCKS HOSING WATER ON TO FLAMES

17. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FIREFIGHTER COMMANDER MATTHIEU JOMAIN, SAYING:

"We can see here what we expected to happen today - flare-ups strengthened and brought on by the wind that has arisen, which we can observe right now, in unburnt parts of areas where the wildfire had burnt through in previous days."

18. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS ON FIRE TRUCKS HOSING VEGETATION WITH WATER

19. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FIREFIGHTER COMMANDER MATTHIEU JOMAIN, SAYING:

"These new weather forecasts will of course make our colleagues' work more complex."

20. CANADAIR PLANE FLYING

21. VARIOUS OF SMOKE

22. FIREFIGHTING HELICOPTER FLYING

23. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FIREFIGHTER COMMANDER MATTHIEU JOMAIN, SAYING:

"In the future, this means that the current set-up will last as is, because for us, it will be about responding if there are flare-ups within the entirety of the perimeter of the 42,000 hectares that have been destroyed, in order to prevent this perimeter from spreading and this fire from growing in scale."

24. VARIOUS OF FIRE TRUCKS BACKING UP

25. DASH FIREFIGHTING PLANE FLYING

26. SMOKE