Less than halfway through the wildfire season, the EU is on course for a repeat of last year's record destruction
The devastation wrought by wildfires across the European Union could rival last year’s record of more than one million hectares burnt, with the total area affected reaching about 435,000 hectares by Wednesday despite the season being less than halfway through.
The EU’s Copernicus satellite monitoring service updated its weekly summary of burnt areas in the early hours of Thursday.
“For the moment, the situation is similar to last year,” an EU official told journalists on Wednesday. “Last year was the worst – and the whole of August awaits us.”
Wildfires that have raged across Spain since 20 July have already destroyed more than 80,000 hectares, bringing the country’s total for 2026 to over 150,000 hectares.
