said the fire was about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the outskirts of the city's wider region, and 25 to 30 kilometers (15 and 19 miles) from its centre, although downplayed the possibility of Bordeaux being evacuated. Overnight into Sunday about 55,000 people were evacuated from villages to the south of the city in the Gironde region, famed for its vineyards. Wildfires have raged across Europe over the past week, primarily France and Spain, where more than 330,000 people have been evacuated. France has been worst-affected, with an area of 42,000 hectares burnt, making it one of the largest forest fires since World War Two. About 98,000 hectares have burnt across the country since the start of the year.

In total, more than 220,000 people have been evacuated in the south west of the country. Captain Nicolas Braz, one of the leaders of the firefighting operation, said the fire had created "its own winds - complete with whirlwinds", adding it was "erratic and unmanageable". France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Sunday the situation in the region remained "very unfavourable" and the wildfire was "moving erratically towards the Bordeaux metropolitan area". In the Gironde region, the rescue effort involves 2,500 firefighters, including a Swiss team, 1,500 military personnel and almost 1,200 police and gendarmes, who are carrying out evacuations and helping with rescue and securing operations. (BBC)