Europe is enduring its most destructive wildfire season on record in 2025, with experts pointing to climate change as a key driver, Euro News reported. Unusually high temperatures combined with reduced rainfall have created conditions ripe for massive forest fires across the continent.
So far this year, wildfires have scorched more than one million hectares within the European Union—an area larger than Corsica—marking more than a fourfold increase compared to 2024. The EU has recorded over 1,800 forest fires, releasing more than 38 million tonnes of CO₂, according to Euro News.
Among the 27 EU member states, only the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Malta have escaped wildfires. Italy and Romania reported the highest number, with more than 450 fires each. But the most severe destruction did not always align with frequency. Cyprus, for example, recorded just three fires, yet they caused catastrophic damage.
Spain and Portugal were hit particularly hard, losing more than 400,000 hectares and 260,000 hectares respectively. The destruction accounts for nearly 3 per cent of Portugal’s land mass and 0.8 per cent of Spain’s.
“Many of the fires we have monitored are occurring where climate anomalies show it is much drier and warmer than average,” said Mark Parrington, a scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. “Where hot, dry winds are blowing, any ignition can spread quickly on a large scale and become very intense.”
Experts agree that climate change is fuelling the severity of the crisis. Alexander Held, a fire management specialist at the European Forest Institute, explained that while multiple factors—such as topography, vegetation, and fuel—contribute to wildfires, weather remains the ultimate trigger.
“Climate change scenarios provide the perfect envelope for all the other factors to produce a perfect fire day or a perfect firestorm,” Held said, warning that such extreme conditions will become increasingly common and strain firefighting systems.
Held emphasised the need for proactive landscape management to strengthen resilience and give firefighters a fighting chance. “Our fire-fighting system is reaching its limits. The only thing we can do is prepare the landscape, making it more resilient and better prepared,” he said.
Preventive measures recommended by experts include clearing vegetation, controlled burning, grazing, and agroforestry systems that integrate crops with trees to reduce fuel loads.
