EU wildfires burned 540,000 hectares this summer

Wildfires burned about 540,000 hectares across the European Union from June 18 to September 2, after more than 1,000 fires over the summer, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System.

The burned area was more than twice the size of Luxembourg and was well above the average for the previous 20 years. It remained below the record for the same dates in 2025, when fires consumed more than 800,000 hectares.

EFFIS data showed that four of the EU's 15 largest fires of the last 10 years occurred this summer. Fires that broke out between July 16 and 22 burned nearly 190,000 hectares, the highest weekly total for that period since at least 2006.

Three major fires began in that period: two in Spain and one in France. A fire in Spain's Avila province, near Madrid, began on July 22 and destroyed more than 42,000 hectares. The Spanish government said it considered that blaze the worst in the country's modern history.

A fire that started the same day in France's Gironde region, near Bordeaux, burned 37,000 hectares. Another fire in Spain's Huelva province in August destroyed nearly 44,000 hectares, making it the sixth largest recorded in Europe.

France had already broken its record for total area burned in a year before the end of July. Belgium also faced its worst wildfire in more than a century in August, with a single blaze in the east of the country pushing it past its annual burned-area record since at least 2006.

EFFIS figures include only fires covering at least 30 hectares. The totals can differ from national figures because of methodology and may change as new satellite images become available.