Wildfires grip southern Europe

Extreme heat and strong winds are driving wildfires across a large
swathe of Europe, as data shows the number of blazes has jumped
by nearly 50 percent compared with 2024
ACTIVE FIRES IN PAST 24 HOURS (not representative of their size)

Portugal: 1,800
firefighters deployed
against five major blazes

Albania: 24 wildfires
burning, forcing residents
from central villages.

Montenegro: Soldier
killed battling flames
near Podgorica

Spain: Three people
killed and almost
100,000 hectares
burned nationwide

Italy: Mount Vesuvius
blaze under control but
extreme heat warnings
remain in 16 cities

Greece: Flames
threatening third largest
city of Patras, forcing
evacuations

Data as of Aug 13

EUROPEAN UNION FOREST FIRES (cumulative)*
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

2025
1,660 individual fires detected
(to 12 Aug)

2024
1,089

Average
(2006-24)
717
Max
Min

*Fires of approximately 30 hectares or larger

Source: BBC, European Forest Fire Information System, Financial Times
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