A blaze in southern France forced the closure of the Marseille airport, and weather agencies issued warnings for other parts of Europe where temperatures were expected to climb this week.

The ‘hellish’ combination of high winds and dry land has created two intense walls of flames, one moving through the virgin forest and the other towards fields and houses, firefighters said. Horrifying images show the flames far exceeding the height of pine trees.

The first weeks of summer have been cruel for Europe with two heat waves leaving much of the continent under heat warnings. June was the hottest on record for western Europe.