Key facts
- EU fire weather severity has reached record levels, 43% more severe than the two-decade average.
- Over 435,000 hectares have burned across the EU this year, triple the historical average.
- France and Spain have experienced record-breaking fire seasons, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate.
- Three firefighters have died in Greece, and one in Italy, while battling blazes.
- Climate breakdown is identified as a primary driver of the extreme fire conditions.
Fire weather conditions across the European Union have reached unprecedented severity for this time of year, driven by carbon pollution and exacerbated by heatwaves. Data from the European Forest Fire Information Service (Effis) indicates that fire weather has been 43% more severe than the average for late July over the past two decades. This has resulted in widespread and intense wildfires, particularly in Mediterranean countries.
In Greece, three firefighters have died while battling blazes, two on the island of Crete and one on the mainland. France has seen its worst fire season on record, with 91,000 hectares burned near Bordeaux, a figure that surpasses the country's previous annual record with still a month of summer remaining. Spain has experienced its largest wildfire on record west of Madrid, with a total of 207,000 hectares burned nationwide, nearly five times the seasonal average. These fires have forced over 300,000 people to evacuate their homes and accommodations.
While Spain has declared the fire situation stable in some regions, a new fire near the Portuguese border led to the evacuation of 600 people, with temperatures expected to remain high. Italy and Portugal have also reported near-record numbers of fires and significantly above-average burned areas, though not yet on the scale of France and Spain. A firefighter died in Italy last week while tackling blazes in Sicily.
Experts attribute the extreme conditions to climate breakdown, which has led to prolonged heatwaves, drying out vegetation and creating a substantial fuel surplus. The increased temperatures, low humidity, and atmospheric phenomena generated by large fires contribute to their exponential growth. The abandonment of rural areas and subsequent overgrowth of vegetation in southern Europe have also created more fuel for wildfires. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for a "national pact" to address the climate emergency, highlighting the link between high temperatures and the increasing intensity of fires.