Abstract
The knowledge of stellar wind properties and mass loss rates in massive stars is a milestone in the stellar evolution and disk formation process. Our current view of winds reveals they are often highly variable and inhomogeneous. We review here the wind structure of early-type stars, such as the new hydrodynamical solutions, the wind clumping and the weak-wind problem. We also discuss the peculiar circumstellar environment around some short-lived phases of evolved massive stars (i.e., LBV and B[e] supergiants). Accurate mass loss rate estimates are crucial keys to discuss the importance of different triggering mechanisms in driving a wind.
