Wildfires and extreme heat across five European Union nations have caused at least €3.1 billion in damages in just the first two months of the fire season, surpassing the €2.5 billion the European Commission had anticipated for the entire period. Spain, France, Portugal, Greece and Romania account for the bulk of the losses, with nearly half a million hectares burned across the five countries.
In Greece, storm-force winds on Sunday drove fires deeper into the Athens region, destroying more than 10,000 hectares of forest and forcing new evacuations. Three firefighters have died in Greece, while at least 13 people perished in Spain this season. France's Gironde department saw 420 square kilometres of forest consumed and 224,000 people displaced, with major manufacturers including Safran, Dassault Aviation and ArianeGroup forced to halt production.
The crisis has prompted political responses: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for a national pact to combat wildfires, while French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a national coordinator for reconstruction. Record-low river levels in the Danube and Rhine are additionally threatening energy infrastructure in Hungary, Romania and Germany.