More than 600,000 hectares of land burned within European Union countries in the first eight months of 2026, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. While that figure remains below the record 2025 total, it far exceeds the 20-year average of around 280,000 hectares.
Human activity causes most wildfires across Europe, but warmer, drier conditions linked to climate change and shifting land use patterns have intensified their spread and severity. Historically fire-prone countries such as France and Spain continue to see the greatest damage, but extremely dry conditions are putting many parts of Western and Central Europe, including the UK and southern Scandinavia, at increased risk.
A mid-July wildfire in Scotland's Cairngorms mountains illustrated the challenge. The blaze penetrated a dry peat layer, creating hotspots that resisted containment despite more than 500 firefighters and aerial support. Bulldozers dug firebreaks as high winds pushed the unpredictable fire toward the village of Nethy Bridge. Nine days after the outbreak began, Police Scotland declared a major incident and evacuated many of the village's 600 residents. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service did not stand down firefighting crews until more than a month after the fire started.
Will Hayes, a researcher with the UK's Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, said wildfire risks are now extending far beyond Mediterranean regions. "These areas are not becoming Mediterranean landscapes, but traditionally wetter, cooler regions are now experiencing more frequent windows where increasing amounts of vegetation is dry enough to burn and fires can spread," he said. He urged people to avoid campfires, barbecues and careless ignition sources during high-risk weather and to follow local fire warnings.
The World Health Organization has begun working with countries to assess wildfire risks as a public health issue rather than simply an emergency response problem. Cyprus and Ireland recently completed their first-ever assessment workshops using WHO's Strategic Toolkit for Assessing Risks methodology to identify health hazards linked to heatwaves and wildfires. WHO has conducted 38 such national strategic risk assessment workshops in Europe since 2018.
