Southern France Wildfire 70 km from Tour de France Finish Line; Decision on Monday Stage Due by End of Day

Wildfires burning in southern France are threatening the third stage of the Tour de France, scheduled to finish near Les Angles on Monday afternoon. The fire has burned about 1,500 hectares roughly 70 kilometers from the planned finish line. Approximately 700 firefighters are working to contain the blaze, and the prefect of the Eastern Pyrenees department has closed the main access road to the route.

Regnault de la Mothe, the prefect, said the decision on the stage will be taken "by the end of the day" after an afternoon meeting. He added that the fire "has flared up again" and that all resources are being mobilised. France 24 reported that separate wildfires have devastated more than 19,000 hectares across Portugal, Spain, Greece and France.

In Portugal, emergency services said they had controlled 80 percent of a blaze that burned 13,000 hectares in the north. A fire near Spain's Costa Brava coast has burned more than 2,200 hectares in two days. In Greece, flames from a forest fire reached two factories in Thessaloniki, sending thick black smoke across the city and prompting an evacuation order.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 40C in parts of the region in the coming days. Officials said the summer wildfire season has started roughly a month early after a June heatwave that produced thousands of excess deaths. " "Climate change is here, we are living the consequences and it is only the start of July," Colonel Eric Belgioino said on July 5, 2026.