These extreme and unpredictable conditions make the fires all the more difficult to stop.
To combat them, French firefighters have been using planes loaded with fire retardant, as well as planes like the Canadair, which can scoop 6,000 litres of water from lakes or the sea in 12 seconds and drop it directly on the fires.
On dangerous days, loaded aircraft patrol high-risk areas before any fires have been reported, so they can drop within minutes of a sighting. Planes often fly in a continuous shuttle while retardant is laid along the edges of the fire and ground crews attack the flames directly.
In Gironde, about 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 military personnel, and 1,200 police officers and gendarmes have been involved in tackling the blaze.
But even with these numbers, Gironde official Jean Luc Gleyze told the BBC that authorities don’t have enough people to combat the fires.
“We don’t have enough people and enough trucks and even I think France don’t have enough,” he said.