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Higher humidity, cooler temperatures and a rain forecast brought some relief to wildfire-hit southwestern France. Officials cautioned that only sustained rainfall can curb the 42,000-hectare blaze and aid recovery.
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Lege-capferret,UPDATED: Jul 30, 2026 13:08 IST
Higher humidity, cooler temperatures and a forecast of rain raised hopes of relief on Thursday in wildfire-hit southwestern France, where fires have scorched an area four times the size of Paris in recent weeks.
Officials said the fire had not spread beyond the 42,000 hectares already affected, and described the night as "rather calm". Fire crews remained at "total mobilization", with 2,200 firefighters and more than 20 aircraft deployed.
Moisture moving in from the Atlantic coast led Meteo France to forecast light rain in Lege-Cap Ferret, on a peninsula at the edge of the affected region. Rain fell early on Thursday in Bordeaux to the east, but there were no early signs of enough rainfall in the worst-hit areas to put out the flames or dampen the sandy ground and brush-filled undergrowth of pine forests that have fuelled the fire.
Sophie Brocas, prefect of the Gironde region, said lower temperatures could help. "If that's confirmed, we could foresee a return to a more normal life for residents, but also for businesses that need to work," she told reporters late on Wednesday. Authorities said humidity reached 80 per cent overnight but was expected to drop by midday. Gironde officials said in a morning note that some rainfall was expected along the coast and "could reach the fire zone". Temperatures, which had peaked at about 40C a day earlier, were expected to fall on Thursday and reach 27C along the coast. An orange heatwave alert, the second-highest level after red, was lifted shortly before dawn.
The fires in the wine-growing, forested and tourism-heavy Bordeaux region are among a series of blazes that have swept parts of southern Europe in recent weeks, including Spain and Greece. On Wednesday, authorities said three firefighters had died on the Greek island of Crete as the wildfire emergency stretched from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean. At the height of the evacuations, a third of a million people were forced to leave their homes and holiday sites in France and Spain.
With PTI Inputs
- Ends
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jul 30, 2026 13:08 IST
