“APOCALYPTIC” blazes have forced Marseilles International Airport to shut down as France braces to tackle raging wildfires.

Plumes of acrid smoke billowed into the sky – causing the airport to close its runways shortly after midday and cancel dozens of flights.

The fire is said to have started in a vehicle in the area of Pennes-Mirabeau to the north of Marseilles.

By the afternoon, it roared across 350 hectares (860 acres), according to French firefighters.

The blaze, fanned by winds of up to 70 kilometres per hour, could be smelled in the centre of Marseilles, as thick clouds of smoke hovered over the city.

Water-dropping planes tried to extinguish the fire on the outskirts of the city, which has some 900,000 inhabitants.

“Its very striking – apocalyptic even,” said Monique Baillard, a resident of Les Pennes-Mirabeau.

A spokesperson for Marseilles airport, France’s fourth-busiest, said planes had not been taking off or landing since around midday.

They added that some flights had been diverted to Nice, Nimes and other regional airports. It was unclear when the airport would reopen.

In response, emergency services have mobilised more than 720 firefighters and 230 water machines.

Alongside that, four water bomber helicopters, one dash aircraft and four canadairs (specialist firefighting aircraft) have been deployed, according to Sky News.

The wildfire also interrupted train traffic as the blaze spread rapidly to the edges of the southern French city.

French railway operator SNCF said the circulation of trains between Marseilles and the Miramas-Aix high-speed TGV train station was stopped due to a fire nearing the tracks in L’Estaque, a picturesque neighbourhood in the city.

The city’s mayor warned that the fire continues to spread north of Marseilles.

Benoit Payan said: “The fire that started this morning in Pennes-Mirabeau continues to spread north of Marseilles. 

“I went to the command post of the Marseilles Firefighters Battalion to monitor the operations.”

He repeated previous pleas to people to stay inside and adhere to official instructions.

Earlier, Payan on X warned residents that the fire was now “at the doors of Marseilles”, urging inhabitants in the north of the city to refrain from taking to the roads to make way for rescue services.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Pennes-Mirabeau said two housing estates had been evacuated and firefighters had positioned themselves outside an old people’s home to fight off approaching flames.

The fire near Marseilles is just the latest to have hit France in recent days.

Several weeks of heat waves combined with strong winds have increased the risk of wildfires in southern France, with several breaking out over the past couple of days.

To the west, near the city of Narbonne, more than 1,000 firefighters from around the country were seeking to contain another blaze.

It had crept across 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of trees since starting on the property of a winery on Monday afternoon, they said.

In the village of Prat-de-Cest on Tuesday morning, trees were blackened or still on fire.