Feeling The Heat

 In our bit of Southern France we have managed to escape the wildfires. We have had sudden flare ups but they have been put out relatively quickly. The one over Bordeaux way is a different matter altogether. It has now produced it's own climate and advances towards the city from the coast. Bordeaux is probably my favourite city in France so I'm hoping the advance has been stopped as it is now as close to the city as Heathrow is to Central London.

Last year we holidayed at Arcachon on the coast and visited many of the towns the fire has threatened. We chose it because it gave us not just a coastal retreat but a 40 minute drive in to Bordeaux. It's taken more than 40 minutes to get to where it has got to, but it has covered 30 of the minutes so far. There are 2500 firemen involved, 1000 army personnel and 42,000 hectares have already been burnt, that 162square miles. If that was centred on Birmingham, it would have consumed West Bromwich, Halesowen, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, plus all the areas of Birmingham.  On a map it doesn't look a large area against the whole of France but something that size in the UK would be a disaster.