Fontainebleau Wildfire Prompts Evacuations Near Paris; Spain Reports 26 Wildfire Deaths Across Two Fires

A wildfire burning in the Fontainebleau forest region about 60 kilometers south of Paris prompted evacuations of some residential neighborhoods on Monday and forced the closure of a section of the A6 highway. Two water-dumping planes and hundreds of firefighters worked the blaze, which also disrupted rail service into Gare de Lyon station late Sunday before trains returned to normal Monday morning.

The Fontainebleau fire occurred amid France's third red-alert heat wave of the year, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in western and central areas.

Large fires elsewhere in southern France have already burned thousands of hectares since last week and disrupted the Tour de France. In Spain, a wildfire that began Saturday in Bedar near Almeria killed 13 people and left 10 unaccounted for as of Monday.

A separate blaze in Los Gallardos, which affected roughly 70 square kilometers of forest and farmland, was contained Sunday after a 93-year-old British national died from injuries sustained there, bringing that incident's toll to 13 as well.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez planned to visit the Los Gallardos site on Monday. Wildfires also broke out across several locations in England on Sunday under hot, sunny and dry conditions, leading to evacuations from rural homes in north Wales. The Met Office noted that 2026 is the first year with temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius or higher recorded in three separate months.