Wildfires keep Spain and France on alert amid extreme heat

Firefighters battling wildfires across Spain and France warned Wednesday that the risk of additional blazes remains very high in the coming days, even as a major fire in Spain’s central Guadalajara province eased enough to allow some residents to return home.

Wildfires have already scorched more land across Europe this year than the continent’s average over the past two decades, according to available data, as the world’s fastest warming continent endures its third stifling heatwave in close succession this year.

In France, where two firefighters died Tuesday after their truck became engulfed in flames in the southwestern Gironde region, authorities urged residents in areas affected by the heat to avoid using barbecues, stressing that nine out of ten wildfires start as a result of human activity, whether accidental or not.

Meanwhile, in the Western Balkans, the nature of the threat has shifted from heat to hailstorms, with several people injured in North Macedonia and eastern Kosovo.

Scientists say human driven climate change continues to intensify heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, while also creating conditions that can trigger sudden and destructive storms. Real time data from a climate monitoring tool showed the average high temperature across Western Europe is forecast to reach 26.6 degrees Celsius, about 3 degrees above the historical norm for July 22 based on the 1961 to 1990 reference period.

Spain’s most severe wildfire so far this year has burned an estimated 32,000 hectares in the Guadalajara region. The fire began to stabilize Tuesday after forcing evacuations across 34 municipalities and confinement orders in 14 others. Castilla La Mancha’s regional fire service, INFOCAM, said residents of five villages have been allowed to return home, though other restrictions remain in place.

Visiting the affected region Wednesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spain has already experienced 22 major wildfires this year. He said the country has already surpassed 100,000 hectares burned before even reaching the most critical period of the wildfire season, noting that figure matches Spain’s annual average over the past decade. He added that more action is needed to prevent future fires.

Spain’s national weather agency, AEMET, said wildfire danger remains very high or extreme across most of mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands and is expected to climb further in the coming days. The agency urged extreme caution as the ongoing heatwave combines with dry thunderstorms and Saharan dust blowing into the region. While temperatures are expected to ease slightly in some areas Thursday, forecasters expect a dry westerly wind to drive a fresh surge of heat into Mediterranean regions, where highs of 42 to 44 degrees Celsius could be recorded in some locations.

The back to back heatwaves and wildfires this summer add to a growing pattern of extreme weather events across southern Europe, with officials in both Spain and France continuing to stress prevention measures as the region moves deeper into what is traditionally its most dangerous period for wildfire activity.