EU wildfires burn 5.4 million stremmata during summer 2026 as July blazes surge

Scale of the 2026 summer fire season

Between 18 June and 2 September 2026, wildfires destroyed approximately 5.4 million stremmata (5,400 square kilometres) of land across the European Union, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). More than 1,000 individual fires occurred during this window, representing over 80% of the 6.47 million stremmata burned in the bloc since the start of the year. The total summer area is approximately nine times the size of Madrid and sits above the 20-year European average. While total damage remained below the 2025 mark of over 8 million stremmata and the 2007 season, four of the 15 largest individual fires recorded in the EU over the past decade occurred during the summer of 2026. Unlike typical years when fire activity peaks in August, the most destructive period in 2026 shifted forward into July.

July peak and individual mega-fires

The most concentrated destruction occurred between 16 July and 22 July, when fires burned approximately 1.9 million stremmata in a single week. That figure accounts for roughly 30% of all land burned in the EU from January through early September and represents a weekly record for mid-July since EFFIS records began in 2006. On 22 July alone, two massive fires burned simultaneously in Spain and France. In the Spanish province of Ávila near Madrid, a single fire consumed more than 420,000 stremmata, while a mega-fire near Bordeaux in France's Gironde department burned 370,000 stremmata. In August, another fire in Spain's Huelva province burned 440,000 stremmata. By the end of July, France had exceeded its previous annual record for burned area. Spain also approached its historical marks for the period over several weeks, briefly exceeding them in mid-August.

Regional impact across the Mediterranean

Across the wider Mediterranean basin and neighbouring territories, EFFIS mapping of fires larger than 300 stremmata recorded more than 12 million stremmata burned between 1 July and 31 August. The blazes forced thousands of residents to evacuate homes across multiple countries. Southern European nations including Portugal, Greece, and Italy experienced recurrent fire activity, while blazes also extended into northern European areas.

European Union officials described the geographical scope of the seasonal destruction in an official release.

The fires affected large areas of Europe and North Africa during the summer of 2026, with extensive burned areas in the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, Italy, Greece, the Balkans, Algeria, but also Ukraine.

Long-term climate projections

Research published by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research indicates that fire-prone conditions will expand under ongoing climate shifts. Under a high-emissions scenario with temperatures rising 3.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, researchers estimate a 193% increase in European burned land, reaching 53,000 square kilometres annually. This growth is projected to extend fire hazards into previously unaffected parts of Western and Central Europe.

Dr. Kirsten Thonicke of the Potsdam Institute warned of the operational barriers facing emergency responders during extreme weather.

With climate change, conditions could become so extreme that we really hit the limits of what we can do to prevent and fight fires when they reach a certain size.