France Roadtrip Wildfire Safety & Avoidance GuideFree guide, 14 chapters
Satellite and forecast figures refreshed 16 August 2026 at 10:23 UK time. Fire and disruption reporting verified against official sources the same day. Conditions change hourly during fires. National authorities are always right. In danger anywhere in the EU, call 112.
France · travel advisory

Travelling in France in the next four weeks: what to avoid, and when

France is our deepest section. The strip below is today’s picture at a glance; every question links to its own page — one page, one answer, each updated as the situation moves. Anything operational (roads, fires, air) must be re-checked on the day: that’s the sources page.

Anything operational (roads, fires, air) must be re-checked on the day — the toolkit at the bottom is for that. Figures refreshed and fire and disruption reporting verified against official sources on 16 August 2026 at 10:23 UK time. These figures will move.

Gironde fireGironde fire still active: red forest-fire vigilance, closed roads and access bans remain. Avoid Saumos/Le Porge
Inland Var fireActive fire: burning, spreading, or an evacuation in force. Everyone evacuated has been allowed home. Forest massifs closed to the public.
RailRail disruption is still listed in Gironde. Check SNCF and your TER region on the day, because disruption can persist or clear faster than static travel pages.
RoadsGironde: RD106 and RD1250 closed, A63 slip roads shut. Inland Var: RD45 between Châteauvert and Correns; RD22 closed in two sections. Closures also remain at Le Guédeniau and the forêt de Baugé and Massegros Causses Gorges and La Tieule and Luglon and Garein and Barèges and the Glère valley and Bastia and the Biguglia plain. Check the préfecture closure maps before you route.
HeatMétéo-France has 28 départements under orange canicule (heatwave) vigilance today and 29 under yellow. No red heat vigilance is in force. Heat vigilance is redrawn every day.
SmokePlumes carry 50 to 300 km downwind. People in the Aude smelled the Gironde and Landes fires from about 300 km away, so judge distance from the fire map and not from your nose.

What do you want to know?

Where are the fires and heat right now? →The live map: fire zones including Gironde, vigilance areas, day-by-day temperatures What will the weather be like? →How far ahead forecasts can honestly see — week-by-week to early September Is my travel window risky? →The next four weeks, week by week, confidence-rated What actually gets disrupted? →Motorways, local roads, rail, campsites, massif closures — and how smoke behaves Which official sources do I check? →The live-check toolkit, plus the email briefings The free guide →The full van & camping handbook with the fire-season playbook, free

More on France

Fire & heat mapLive satellite detections and Météo-France vigilance, refreshed daily Month-ahead outlookWeekly average temperatures out to six weeks, with confidence falling off honestly Week by weekHow fire risk builds and eases across the season, region by region Travel disruptionRoads, rail, airports and campsites affected right now Official sourcesThe live-check toolkit — the services that are the authority in France

Fire & heat updates by email: don't check, be told

Sign up free and get the briefing: fires, closures and heat for Europe's travel regions, in plain English. Daily updates during the season for subscribers. Double opt-in, unsubscribe anytime, address used for nothing else.