Some 84,000 more people who had been evacuated from fire-threatened areas on France's Atlantic coast can return to their homes, local authorities said on Thursday.
The prefect of Bordeaux, Sophie Brocas, said on Thursday morning that the evacuees from nine areas could go back because the forest fire situation had significantly eased.
However, because the fires are not yet fully under control, people were urged to keep their mobile phones switched on for possible instructions from the authorities and to remain prepared for a possible renewed evacuation.
A total of 224,000 people had been evacuated in the region. On Tuesday, 60,000 people were able to return to three evacuated municipalities.
Rainfall brought some relief to firefighters battling the major wildfires.
"We're hoping for showers throughout the morning," regional fire service commander Matthieu Jomain was quoted as saying by the Sud-Ouest newspaper on Thursday morning.
"The conditions this morning, with 80% humidity, are ideal for us to continue our operations and efficiently extinguish any remaining embers," he said.
Firefighters have been battling massive wildfires on France's south-western coast for days, leading to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, including tourists from campsites and holiday parks.
The flames came within 15 kilometres of the city of Bordeaux and have destroyed around 42,000 hectares of forest and scrubland, an area of 420 square kilometres.
A total of 230 firefighters have so far been injured while on duty in the fire-affected region near Bordeaux, according to the prefecture.
France and neighbouring Spain have been fighting to contain a series of severe wildfires fuelled by high temperatures and dry vegetation, with scientists pointing to climate change as the driver for more severe, frequent fires. Elsewhere in Europe, the Greek island of Crete and Turkey are also battling out-of-control blazes.