Wildfires in southern France and Spain have burned record areas this year, with scientists warning that a failure to adapt to climate breakdown is driving mounting costs. By 1 July, wildfires had scorched 28,000 hectares in France and 50,000 hectares in Spain, more than double the seasonal average, and further blazes in the following week have expanded the charred land.
Climate change fuels extreme fire conditions
Scientists have found that the record-breaking heat that scorched Europe in June would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change caused by burning fossil fuels. Daytime highs are now 10 times more likely than two decades ago, and night-time lows 100 times more likely, according to recent attribution studies.
Julia Miller, a climate scientist at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF and lead author of a study on compounding wildfire risks, explained that a wet winter and spring followed by drought and heat creates ideal fire conditions. “If a period of active vegetation growth is followed by a period of drought and heat, vegetation becomes stressed and transforms into flammable wildfire fuel,” she said.
Wet winters boost vegetation, then dry out
In Spain, a rain-heavy winter and spring spurred plant growth, with surface soil moisture above seasonal averages from March to May, according to Copernicus data. Unusually high river flow was driven by an “exceptionally wet winter” in the Iberian peninsula. However, freak heatwaves in late May and late June rapidly dried out the extra vegetation, leaving behind extensive fuel.
Scientists cited this combination as a factor in Spain’s record wildfire season last year, where high vegetation water content initially reduced fire potential but was lost during prolonged heatwaves, creating a fuel surplus.
Land management gaps worsen fires
Fernando Pulido Díaz, a fire prevention scientist at the University of Extremadura and co-author of a report by the European Academies Science Advisory Council, criticised EU fire policies for focusing on suppressing blazes rather than preventing conditions that allow fires to spread. “Climate itself cannot provoke fires if there is no plant fuel, so fuel availability driven by absence of land management is a critical factor underlying extreme fires,” he said.
He noted that the issue has been debated but lacks practical implementation beyond local pilot projects. Southern Europe has seen increasingly overgrown vegetation as rural villages hollow out, with young people moving to cities and abandoning farmland.
EU mobilises funds and firefighters
Europe is increasingly paying for its failure to prepare for a hotter world. On Tuesday, the European Parliament voted to release €120.55 million from its solidarity fund to help Spain recover from destructive heatwaves and wildfires last year, with €23.55 million approved for Romania and Cyprus. The European Commission scrambled firefighters and water-bearing planes to help France and Portugal on Monday, deploying a record number of firefighters this year.
The EU’s science advisers warned in February that adaptation efforts were insufficient, incremental, and often too late, recommending preparation for 3°C of global heating even as they urged meeting the 1.5°C target of the Paris agreement.
Urgent need for emissions cuts
Fossil fuel pollution and nature destruction have heated Europe about twice as fast as the global average. Miller stressed that while wildfire preparedness is increasingly important, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential to address the root cause. “I see wildfires breaking records in Europe almost every year,” she said. “Wildfire preparedness and management is becoming increasingly important, but at the same time, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address the root cause of the emerging wildfire crisis.”
