Fire emissions at record levels - Extreme heat and drought fuel the spread of flames in Europe
Fires across Europe have reached record levels this summer, with intense blazes fuelled by high temperatures and dry conditions. A total of 292,855 hectares of land have burned in the EU, according to the latest update from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) on 29 July. The total area burned during the same period last year was 139,940 hectares, and the total so far this year is higher than the average recorded over the past 19 years. The European system has detected a total of 1,339 fires larger than 30 hectares since the start of the year.
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service says several countries have recorded their highest fire emissions in 23 years of records. High temperatures around the Mediterranean Basin during the summer have significantly increased the likelihood of fires breaking out in the region.
Modelling has shown that the fires around the Mediterranean this summer "have been the result of lots of easily combustible materials and dry conditions fuelling the intensity of the flames," said a scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
In the eastern Mediterranean, Greece and Turkey experienced intense wildfires with persistent high temperatures contributing to the worsening situation. Greece recorded the highest total wildfire emissions since 2007, and Turkey recorded the highest figures to date.
The blazes have been particularly intense in Cyprus, where the country reached its highest annual total emissions in just two days. This was largely due to the fires of July 22 and 23, which have been described as the worst on the island in more than half a century.
July also saw an increase in wildfire activity across the wider Balkan region. Emissions from wildfires in Montenegro and North Macedonia were the third highest, while those in Serbia and Albania were the second highest, after 2007.
In southwestern Europe, large fires broke out in southern France, Catalonia and Portugal in early July. From the beginning of the year to July 15, a total of 3,370 rural fires have burned 10,768 hectares of land in Portugal. This figure is three times higher than that recorded in the same period in 2024, when 3,462 hectares were burned.
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