Europe faces its most severe wildfire season on record in 2025
EFFIS data show that wildfires are growing both more frequent and more intense. Early figures for 2025 indicate that the total area burned will exceed all previous records since the agency began tracking wildfires in 2006.
These preliminary numbers follow the 2024 Forest Fires Report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), which recorded 383,317 hectares of burned land in Europe. Although lower than the 500,000 hectares scorched in 2023 due to intermittent rainfall, the 2024 figure still surpassed the 17-year average of 354,185 hectares. That year also saw 8,343 fires reported—over four times the long-term average.
EU member states most severely affected included Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, accounting for 334,940 hectares of burnt land. Among non-EU countries participating in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Türkiye, and Ukraine suffered major losses, with Ukraine alone representing half of the total area burned, much of it along active combat lines.
EFFIS data suggest that Europe’s wildfire patterns are shifting rapidly, with longer fire seasons and increasingly intense blazes placing unprecedented pressure on firefighting services.
EU officials emphasized that while enhancing firefighting capacity is crucial, proactive risk-reduction strategies—such as integrated wildfire management, nature-based solutions, and improved landscape planning—will be vital to mitigate the continent’s escalating wildfire challenge.
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