Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleWildfires in the EU have burned over 1 million hectares in 2023, the highest on record. Spain and Portugal are the most affected, with climate change exacerbating the situation.
By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Wildfires have burned more than a million hectares of land in the European Union this year so far, the highest amount in any year since official records began in 2006, EU data showed.
A total of 1,028,000 hectares in the EU had been ravaged by blazes as of Tuesday - an area bigger than Cyprus, and higher than the total in any year on record, data by the EU's European Forest Fire Information System, analysed by Reuters, showed.
The previous record was in 2017, when the area burned by wildfires was around 998,000 hectares.
Spain and Portugal have been worst hit and together accounted for around two-thirds of the EU's burnt area. The EFFIS data showed a sharp increase in wildfires over 5-19 August - a period which overlapped with a 16-day heatwave in Iberia.
The heatwave ended last week, having fuelled fires which killed at least eight people in the two countries and forced rail services and roads to close.
However, 10 wildfires were still raging on Tuesday in Spain's Castille and Leon region, where around 700 people have been evacuated, while blazes continued in the northern regions of Galicia and Asturias.
In Portugal, cooler temperatures brought some respite, and a fire in Piodao was extinguished after 12 days on Monday. With more than 60,000 hectares burned, Piodao is the country's largest wildfire on record.
Climate change is making wildfires, heatwaves and droughts more frequent and severe - although prevention measures such as clearing land of dry vegetation have been playing an important role in limiting fires.
Wildfires in the EU have emitted 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide this year so far, EFFIS said. That is more than at the same point in any year on record, putting 2025 on track to breach the annual record of 41 million tonnes.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Andrey Khalip in Lisbon and Inti Landauro in Madrid; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
Climate change refers to significant changes in global temperatures and weather patterns over time, primarily driven by human activities such as burning fossil fuels.
Carbon emissions are the release of carbon, particularly carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere, mainly from burning fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming.
Wildfires are uncontrolled fires that burn in forests, grasslands, or other natural areas, often exacerbated by dry conditions and high temperatures.
The EFFIS is a European system that monitors and reports on forest fires across Europe, providing data on fire incidents and their impacts.
Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, often focusing on environmental conservation.
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