Marseille prepares shelters for residents as mistral winds fuel wildfire

Around 600 accommodation spaces across three gymnasiums are now available to "shelter the people of Marseille who may be forced or obliged to leave their homes," says Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan, as the fire that broke out in Les Pennes-Mirabeau reaches France's second-largest city, driven by strong mistral winds.

Several forest fires have raged in recent days in southern France, fanning out at speed due to wind and parched vegetation after a heatwave. Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of