European Wildfires

Gale-force winds of up to 130 km/h fanned 51 new wildfires across Greece in a single 24-hour period on Friday, forcing hundreds of evacuations by sea near Athens and devastating coastal holiday areas. More than 300 firefighters battled a blaze at Porto Germeno, 70 km west of the capital, where flames reached the coastline and destroyed homes. Civil protection authorities placed greater Athens on the highest red alert for Saturday. Three firefighters were killed on Crete, where a 15-km fire front prompted the evacuation of an estimated 2,000 tourists.

In neighbouring Turkey, authorities said most of 218 recent blazes were under control, though Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli noted active fronts in Aydin and Balikesir provinces. In France, a reignited fire in the Var department scorched 1,000 hectares in six hours, prompting 2,500 evacuations, while near Bordeaux authorities lifted evacuation orders after 42,000 hectares burned. In Spain, major fires near Madrid and Avila were stabilised, but a new outbreak hit Leon province overnight.

The wildfire in Castellón province has been declared stabilised after nearly a week of burning, with officials confirming it consumed 9,568 hectares across an 89-kilometre perimeter and destroyed roughly 12% of the Sierra de Espadán Natural Park. Emergency chief Juan Carlos Valderrama announced the downgrade to a level-one alert late Friday, after the blaze had scorched approximately 10,000 hectares since igniting last Saturday.

Investigators have identified two separate points of origin near the town's edge, ruling out natural causes, as the Civil Guard's Seprona unit examines the distinct ignition sites. The hardest-hit municipality was Artana, which lost 3,160 hectares.

Residents of Artana and Eslida returned home Thursday, though nine roads remain closed and external reinforcement units from Murcia, Catalonia and Aragón have withdrawn from the scene.

Nineteen of Italy's 27 major cities faced the highest-level heat alert on Friday, with Florence recording temperatures up to 39 degrees Celsius as the country endures its fourth heat wave of the summer. The Health Ministry predicted that 23 cities will reach red-alert status by Sunday, with Terni expected to hit 41 degrees. The Po River at Cremona has fallen below its 2022 record low, and irrigation withdrawals have been slashed across Veneto.

The crisis has deepened across the continent. The World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control calculated 10,000 excess deaths in Europe in the last week of June alone. Wildfires in Spain and France have forced more than 300,000 evacuations, while low Danube water levels have shut down the Paks nuclear plant in Hungary and a facility at Cernavoda, Romania.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that El Niño is adding fuel to an already burning planet, as sea-surface warming exceeds three and a half degrees. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri accused the government of leaving municipalities to cope alone.

Historic wildfires across France and Spain have scorched roughly 300,000 acres and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, with the Bordeaux region alone displacing more than 220,000 residents as temperatures are forecast to reach 40°C.

French authorities suspect some blazes were deliberately set, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said more than 160 arrests have been made since early July, with convictions carrying up to 15 years in prison. In Spain, a major fire in a national park near the Portuguese border forced the evacuation of 12 villages around Fermoselle, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the situation as extremely tense with ten active fires across the country.

Greece and Turkey are also battling dozens of fires; three firefighters died on Crete. Western Europe recorded its hottest June ever, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Human-caused climate change made the extreme weather driving devastating wildfires in Spain and France significantly more probable, according to a rapid analysis released Friday by World Weather Attribution. The hot, dry and windy conditions fuelling the blazes were at least 20 times more likely in central Spain and at least twice as likely in south-western France, the group found.

Fires burning since early July have displaced more than 250,000 people and destroyed thousands of homes after authorities struggled to contain blazes that killed at least 14 people this year. In today's climate, fire weather of this intensity can be expected roughly once every six years in central Spain and once every 20 years in south-western France. Rainy winters followed by dry springs heighten the fire risk in both regions.

Air quality deteriorated sharply, with fine particle pollution in Bordeaux reaching 20 times acceptable European levels. Poor air was detected up to 400 kilometres away, and nearly 100,000 people in Spain were confined to their homes.

Spanish authorities have lifted all evacuation and confinement orders across Ávila province as the Burgohondo wildfire, now deemed the largest in Spain's history at 50,000 hectares burned, stabilised on Wednesday. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced from Navalcarnero that residents of more than a dozen evacuated towns could return home, noting that fires in Ávila and Madrid are technically stabilised.

The blaze destroyed over 70,000 hectares in total and has triggered a criminal investigation. Civil Guard agents arrested the owner of the excavator believed to have sparked the fire. Investigators say sparks from the machine's chain ignited dry vegetation while workers were clearing a livestock path in the Gredos mountains. The machinery was operating despite an extreme fire-risk ban imposed by regional authorities and lacked required permits and safety equipment.

Both the owner and the operating company face charges of forest fire and environmental crimes.

More than 100 firefighters are battling a wildfire that has grown to roughly 150 hectares on the Suffolk coast, prompting a major incident declaration and mass evacuations near the Sizewell B nuclear power station. The blaze, which began at Dunwich Heath on 29 July 2026, was stabilising by the evening of 30 July but Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service expects operations to continue for at least 48 hours.

Approximately 100 to 150 people were evacuated, including residents and guests at Cliff House Holiday Park, while UK Power Networks cut electricity to 116 homes. EDF confirmed the fire is not affecting operations at Sizewell B, and Chief Fire Officer Jon Lacey said the blaze was not expected to reach the station or the Sizewell C construction site.

The fire has spread into the RSPB Minsmere nature reserve, with area manager Adam Rowlands calling the damage unprecedented in living memory. Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged full support to emergency crews, while the blaze comes as half of England was declared in official drought.

George Clooney, his wife Amal, and their nine-year-old twins were forced to flee their Provençal estate after flames advanced on the property in Brignoles, in the Var department of southeastern France.

The evacuation is part of a broader emergency: across the country, fires have displaced more than 220,000 residents, with roughly 100 hectares scorched around the town alone. President Emmanuel Macron toured a firefighter coordination centre as crews battled the blazes. In Spain, tens of thousands were also affected, while two firefighters died fighting fires in Greece.

The Clooneys, who purchased the Domaine du Canadel vineyard in 2021 and became French citizens in 2025, wrote to Brignoles Mayor Didier Brémond pledging support for rebuilding. The family was unharmed in the evacuation.