Before-and-after satellite images show the staggering toll of France's worst wildfire season on record

Before-and-after satellite photos show wildfires in Ponteves, France. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS Wildfires began ravaging southwestern France in mid-July following record heat waves. Satellite images show heavy smoke, and aerial photos show damage to cities and forests. France deployed 250,000 firefighters and aircraft, including water bombers and A400Ms. Weeks of record-breaking heat and fast-moving wildfires have scorched large swaths of France. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said in a statement on Friday that 116,085 hectares of land had burned in wildfires across France this year, amounting to the country's worst wildfire season on record. Around 250,000 people have been evacuated in the affected areas of the Gironde and Landes regions of southwest France since the wildfires began in mid-July, France's Interior Ministry said. Record-breaking heat waves across Europe and prolonged drought conditions have contributed to the severity of the damage.