Southwestern France witnessed blazes so intense they triggered a rare fire-generated thunderstorm, signaling Europe's alarming shift into an era of devastating megafires.
The fires have scorched over 116,000 hectares
Jul 29, 2026
02:59 pm
What's the storyEurope is witnessing a new era of mega wildfires, with blazes in southwestern France burning so intensely that they have created a fire-generated thunderstorm, experts say.
This phenomenon, known as "pyrocumulonimbus," is sometimes seen in megafires in the US and Canada but may never have been recorded in France before.
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The vast blazes ripping through southwestern France burned so intensely they created a powerful, fire-generated thunderstorm.…
The vast blazes ripping through southwestern France burned so intensely they created a powerful, fire-generated thunderstorm —…
The inferno ravaging southwest France creates rare fire clouds, never before recorded in the country.
France's Gironde wildfire spawned a never-before-recorded pyrocumulonimbus cloud that struck the earth with lightning and lit…
A wildfire can already devastate forests, homes and entire communities. But some of France’s biggest blazes are now becoming…
A wildfire in southwest France grew so powerful that its smoke column became a thunderstorm, generating lightning that struck the…
