One British restaurant owner in Bordeaux said the city is ‘full of smoke and ash’.

Lance Attwood,58,who owns Sweeney Todd’s in Bordeaux city centre,said: ‘It’s not really conducive to coming out. The town is full of smoke and ash,so there’s a big drop in business,people are just walking around town in masks.

‘Our biggest concern is people’s safety and the safety of the emergency services.’

Meanwhile,Edward Chisholm,a 38-year-old from the UK,told The Telegraph: ‘My girlfriend and I have been renting a house on Grand Piquey,which is on the northern end of Cap Ferret,for our holiday with our four-year-old son.

‘It was quite an apocalyptic scene – the sky was a burnt colour,and there was ash falling continuously.’