A rapidly spreading wildfire has reached the outer edge of Marseille, France's second largest city.
Earlier, Marseille Provence airport was closed for the remainder of Tuesday as the wildfire approached the city.
Some residents have been advised to stay inside, close shutters and doors, and keep roads clear for emergency services.
It comes as wildfires were also reported in other parts of Europe, including Spain's Catalonia region - weeks after the continent was hit by a deadly early summer heatwave.
The fire, which broke out earlier on Tuesday near Pennes-Mirabeau, north of Marseille, is said to have covered about 3.5 sq km.
"It's very striking - apocalyptic even," Monique Baillard, a resident of the town, told Reuters news agency. She said many of her neighbours had already left.
The local fire service said that 168 firefighters had been deployed to fight the blaze, as well as fire engines and helicopters.
Marseille's mayor, Benoit Payan, asked residents to remain "extremely vigilant" and to limit their movements. Locals told French TV of dense traffic jams as people tried to evacuate the city.
Footage posted online showed huge plumes of smoke above Marseille as fire raged in a hilly area to its north.
The Bouches-du-Rhône area, in which the city is situated, has not recorded a single drop of rain since 19 May, according to French broadcaster BFMTV.
Elsewhere in France, another wildfire that started near Narbonne on Monday remains active, fanned by winds of 60km per hour. Some 2,000 hectares have burnt, local officials said.
Meanwhile in Spain, more than 18,000 people were ordered to stay at home in Catalonia because of a wildfire in the eastern province of Tarragona, the government said.
Emergency units were deployed alongside 300 firefighters as high winds overnight fanned the flames, which have spread across nearly 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of land.
Several other parts of the country - which experienced its hottest June on record - were on high alert for wildfires.
In Greece, some 41 wildfires broke out across the country on Monday. Of those, 34 were contained early while seven remained active into Monday evening, according to the fire service.
Much of western and southern Europe was hit by a scorching early summer heatwave, which saw thousands evacuated and homes and business destroyed.
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