Europe’s wildfire crisis is intensifying, with 2025 on track to be the worst year on record, following a 2024 season that was already above the 17-year average, according to a report published on December 8 by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC).

In 2024, wildfires scorched 383,317 hectares across the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) countries — more than the 17-year average of 354,185 hectares, though below the 500,000 hectares burnt in 2023, thanks in part to intermittent spring and summer rainfall in the Mediterranean. A total of 8,343 fires were reported last year, more than four times the long-term average.

The worst-affected EU countries in 2024 were Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, which together accounted for 334,940 hectares of the burnt area. Among non-EU UCPM countries, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine suffered the heaviest losses, with Ukraine alone accounting for half of the total area affected outside the EU, largely along conflict frontlines.

While most 2024 fires were small, a series of large-scale wildfires on the Iberian Peninsula in September burned 100,000 hectares in just one week, nearly a quarter of the season’s total. The data also confirmed a lengthening fire season, with major fires occurring earlier and later than the traditional June–September window.

The 2025 fire season is already shaping up to surpass all previous records. Since January, over 7,200 fires have been registered across the 37 UCPM countries, with more than 1mn hectares burnt — roughly the size of Lebanon and double the area affected in 2024.

“The data gathered so far for 2025 suggests Europe is facing a new wildfire reality,” the JRC said, noting that longer fire seasons, higher temperatures, and more frequent heatwaves are creating conditions for increasingly intense and uncontrollable fires.

The report highlighted the growing strain on firefighting services across Europe and globally. In response, the EU has expanded its collective capabilities by doubling the rescEU aerial fleet, deploying 4 additional aircraft, 26 ground forest firefighting teams, and a firefighting assessment team from the European Civil Protection Pool, alongside spontaneous contributions from member states.

EFFIS, the European Forest Fire Information Service, plays a central role in monitoring wildfire trends, providing satellite-based data across 45 countries, and supporting early warning systems. Since 2000, it has combined weather forecasting with Earth Observation data to supply timely information before, during and after wildfires.