Wildfires are breaking out across Europe after three heat waves and weeks of low rainfall left much of the continent dangerously dry, with crews battling blazes south of Paris and in the UK, while Spain reels from one of its deadliest wildfires.
About 500 firefighters were racing to contain a wildfire in a forest about 64 kilometers (40 miles) south of Paris early Monday. The blaze has burned eight square kilometers near Fontainebleau, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. Fire crews are using tanker aircraft to spray water and retardant to slow the flames and have ordered people in the area to shelter in place.
While emergency services in southern France frequently tackle wildfires, it is rare to have such a large fire in the greater Paris region of Ile-de-France. Wildfires have burned around 320 square kilometers in France so far this year, roughly twice the area affected by this time last year, according to authorities.
Firefighters in Spain worked through the weekend to control one of the country’s deadliest wildfires, which has killed at least 13 people and scorched through about 70 square kilometers near Almería. Crews were able to contain the fire on Sunday, along with other wildfires burning in Catalonia near Aiguamúrcia and Camarasa.
In the UK, firefighters battled blazes across a broad swath of England over the weekend, from London to moorland in Greater Manchester and heathland in Hampshire, to fires in County Durham, Derbyshire, East and West Sussex, Devon and Somerset.
Fire crews on Monday were still working to contain a major wildfire that forced evacuations over the weekend in North Wales. A separate fire in the northeast London neighborhood of Walthamstow spread from a railway embankment and burned one house and many gardens, forcing authorities to stop nearby trains and evacuate passengers, according to the London Fire Brigade.
The continent’s wildfire season started early and accelerated in recent weeks as high temperatures and low rainfall baked vegetation, making it easier for flames to spread rapidly.
Heat wave conditions are set to ease by midweek as extreme temperatures spread east, but average temperatures are set to be 3C to 9C above normal in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and southern Scandinavia through the end of the week, according to Vaisala meteorologist Matthew Dross.
Photograph: Burned-out vehicles in Almocaizar, Almeria, Spain, on July 12, 2026; photo credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images
Related:
Copyright 2026 Bloomberg.
Interested in Catastrophe?
Get automatic alerts for this topic.
