About 1,200 people evacuated from coastal wildfire in northern France

PARIS, Aug 12 - About 1,200 people were evacuated from a campsite due to two wildfires near the beach in the north of France, local officials said on Wednesday.

The prefecture for the administrative department of Pas-de-Calais, in the country's north and bordering the Strait of Dover, said one of the wildfires was under control, but conditions were "unfavourable" for the other one. Access was difficult and the fire was spreading unimpeded toward the south.

Affected campers were being moved to a shelter, the statement said.

France and the wider European continent, the world's fastest-warming, have been battling an unusually active wildfire season, as a relatively wet winter fuelled growth in vegetation that then dried out during rolling heatwaves.

French environment minister Monique Barbut said earlier on Wednesday that the heatwaves could result in as much as €15 billion ($17 billion) in direct and indirect costs. REUTERS