Aircraft sent to fight "exceptional" forest fires near Paris in France, reports UNN citing BBC.
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Two firefighting aircraft were dispatched to the Paris region to combat a large forest fire south of the French capital.
The fire in the Fontainebleau forest, which officials describe as "dangerous" and "of exceptional scale," partially blocked the country's main north-south highway, disrupting traffic during the first major summer weekend.
Early Monday, officials said the fire had engulfed 800 hectares and was still spreading in the forest, about 60 km southeast of Paris.
The Paris region is suffering from its third heatwave this year, as summer temperature records were broken in several European countries.
According to Eric Brocardi of the French National Federation of Firefighters, this was the first time firefighting aircraft were sent from the usually drier and hotter south of the country to fight fires in the Paris region.
Two firefighting helicopters and a surveillance aircraft were also deployed, he added, reports AFP. "The goal is to save lives and property," he is quoted as saying.
Earlier, the fire also blocked a highway east of Paris and disrupted traffic on a high-speed rail line to southern France.
On Sunday evening, French railway company SNCF said passengers faced train delays of up to six hours arriving at or departing from Paris's Gare de Lyon station.
Due to the latest heatwave in France, three nuclear power plants had to be temporarily shut down to avoid discharging warm cooling water into overheated waterways, the publication notes.
Organizers of the Tour de France cycling race also shortened Sunday's stage by 30 km, as temperatures approached 40°C.
Record temperatures across Europe this summer have led to large forest fires, particularly in Spain.
And in the UK, a large forest fire in north Wales was declared a major incident by emergency services on Sunday, as firefighters battled blazes across England and Wales.
Spain fights one of the deadliest forest fires11.07.26, 18:30