This year, 967,026 hectares of nature have already gone up in flames in the European Union – four times the average (244,011) since measurements began in 2006.
Spain stands out with a staggering 4.4 times increase, or nearly 392,000 hectares of devastated land (and record fire emissions). Portugal is also severely affected (2.2 times its average), with 261,000 hectares of burned land. Tens of thousands of hectares also went up in flames in Romania, Italy, Greece, France, and Bulgaria.
Many European countries have experienced unusually high fire activity, resulting in evacuations, fatalities, and heightened national firefighting responses. These fires are not only ecological crises but also major public health, economic, and carbon emission emergencies.
Peaking CO2 emissions
CO2 emissions from wildfires are also peaking: this year, 35 megatons of CO2 have already been released into the atmosphere in the EU. In Spain alone, fires in August emitted 5.5 megatons of carbon in just ten days, surpassing the annual emissions of recent decades.
For comparison: Road transport within the EU is projected to emit nearly 800 million tons of CO₂ in 2025. So, even though wildfire emissions in regions like Spain have reached historic records, they remain substantially lower than the ongoing, massive emissions from road transport across Europe as a whole.
The fires and heatwaves have also caused tens of thousands of deaths, highlighting Europe’s vulnerability.
Climate change and extreme weather conditions
The causes of these wildfires are linked to climate change and extreme weather conditions, resulting in a longer and more intense fire season. 2025 has seen scorching heatwaves turn forests and scrublands into tinderboxes across southern and western Europe.
Several studies have shown that Europe is the fastest-warming continent, with extreme droughts, water stress, and wildfires. Between 2022 and 2023, Europe experienced a warming of approximately 2.3°C since pre-industrial times. One of the explanations is Europe’s geographic location near the Arctic, where temperatures rise about 4× faster than average.
Urban heat island effects
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human-driven warming has increased the frequency and intensity of heat extremes, which raise fire weather indices and fuel aridity, enabling larger, faster-spreading fires.
The EEA (EU Climate Risk Assessment) warns that wildfire risks in Europe will worsen, even under optimistic warming scenarios. Climate warming increases the frequency and duration of fire weather—hot, dry, and windy conditions—creating fertile ground for wildfires.
Densely populated areas in cities, such as Paris, Madrid, Milan, and Berlin, experience urban heat island effects, adding several degrees to local warming. Intensive agriculture and deforestation in Mediterranean zones reduce natural cooling and soil moisture, amplifying heat.
Despite significant green investments, Europe still has a high share of road traffic and heating emissions, contributing to local warming and air pollution that exacerbates the impacts of heat.
