European Wildfires Force Mass Evacuations

In July and August 2026, Europe experienced a severe wildfire crisis, with major fires in France, Spain, and Greece, and additional blazes in Portugal, Turkey, and Italy. The fires were fueled by record heatwaves, drought, and strong winds, exacerbated by climate change. In France, the Gironde megafire near Bordeaux burned over 420 square kilometers, forcing 224,000 people to evacuate, the largest civilian evacuation outside wartime. The fire generated a rare pyrocumulonimbus cloud, the first recorded in France. In Spain, fires near Madrid and in Avila burned over 70,000 hectares, becoming the country's largest recorded wildfire, with at least 13 deaths. In Greece, fires near Athens and on Crete and Kefalonia caused evacuations and killed several firefighters, including two in a helicopter collision. The crisis strained emergency services and led to international assistance. Scientists from World Weather Attribution found that climate change made the French fires at least twice as likely and Spanish fires at least 20 times more likely. The fires also caused significant air pollution, with PM2.5 levels spiking in affected regions. Additionally, low water levels in the Danube forced Hungary to shut its nuclear plant and reduced hydropower output in Serbia and Romania.