ROME, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — A prolonged summer of extreme heat and drought has pushed vast parts of Europe into a severe wildfire crisis, triggering mass evacuations, claiming lives and inflicting heavy damage on forests, farmland and infrastructure.

European Commission monitoring data show the scale of the emergency: about 439,568 hectares have burned so far this year, more than double the 19-year average for this point in the season.

WREAKING HAVOC

Across the Mediterranean and into parts of central and Eastern Europe, the human toll has been mounting. In Spain, several fatalities and thousands of evacuees were reported as blazes swept through Galicia, Castilla y Leon and other regions. In Castilla y Leon alone, about 9,000 residents were moved to safety as multiple municipalities came under threat. In recent days, Spanish authorities also confirmed the deaths of volunteer firefighters in the line of duty.

Greece has faced dozens of simultaneous outbreaks, with western Achaia among the worst-hit areas. Evacuation orders were issued for towns near Patras as strong winds, gales and extreme heat fanned flames across islands and mainland regions. Hospitals, care homes, homes, businesses and warehouses were damaged, and some facilities required emergency clearance.

In Albania, at least one civilian was killed and more than 10 others injured as fires swept southern towns, forcing large-scale evacuations to higher ground. Local officials reported entire neighbourhoods and dozens of homes damaged or destroyed. Thousands of emergency personnel — including firefighters, soldiers, police and volunteers — have been deployed to battle dozens of active blazes.

Romania, one of the worst-hit European Union (EU) countries this summer, has seen more than 120,000 hectares reduced to ashes. Fire crews have been engaged in persistent operations in sensitive areas such as the Danube Delta, where rekindled embers and shifting winds complicate containment, requiring daily aerial and ground interventions.

Portugal has recorded one of the largest burned areas, with provisional data showing about 74,931 hectares consumed this year and a sharp rise in recent weeks. Authorities reported hundreds of wildfires, deploying tens of thousands of personnel, hundreds of vehicles and dozens of aircraft. Officials warned that forecast dry thunderstorms and strong winds could worsen conditions. Dozens of firefighters have been injured on duty.

In Italy, the agricultural confederation reported nearly 57,000 hectares of forest and farmland burned since early 2025, about 60 percent above the two-decade average. Officials warned that fires around Vesuvius National Park threaten unique natural and agricultural resources. Neglected forests without regular maintenance were cited as particularly vulnerable, with recovery for destroyed stands expected to take more than a decade.

CLIMATIC, HUMAN FACTORS

Scientists and disaster specialists attribute the surge in extreme fires to a combination of climatic and human factors.

“The main scientific explanation is linked to climate change,” said Bogdan Antonescu, an atmospheric physics researcher at the University of Bucharest, Romania. Global warming dries vegetation and prolongs droughts, creating more favourable conditions for fires in previously less-affected areas, he said.

In the Danube Delta and other peat-rich landscapes, prolonged arid conditions make containment harder, with winds able to reignite smouldering trunks and embers, Antonescu added.

“Climate change does not directly start fires, but it creates the ideal conditions for them to ignite and spread,” said Kostas Lagouvardos of the National Observatory of Athens.

Efthymios Lekkas, a disaster management expert in Greece, noted that about 90 percent of wildfire ignitions in Greece are tied to human activity, ranging from negligent barbecues and discarded cigarettes to deliberate arson and unsafe land clearing. He urged stronger prevention, stricter penalties and public awareness alongside improved firefighting capacity.

In Italy, climatologists have pointed to shifting circulation patterns that allow the African anticyclone to reach farther north, storing heat in the Mediterranean and raising sea temperatures, a factor that can intensify extreme events. “Higher sea temperatures are probably the most important factor in triggering extreme weather events,” said Marcello Miglietta of Italy’s Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, warning that stored ocean heat can release energy suddenly, fuelling storms and inland convective activity.

Brane Gregorcic, a meteorologist at the Slovenian Environment Agency, said atmospheric warming is making heatwaves more intense and rainfall patterns more erratic, leading to cycles of drought followed by heavy rain, a combination that hampers both prevention and recovery.

POLICY PRESSURES

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre warns the season is far from over. Fire-weather indices and seven-day forecasts show “extreme to very extreme” danger across large parts of the continent, with seasonal models indicating above-average temperatures could persist into September in parts of France, northern Italy and Hungary, while rainfall is expected to remain below normal in much of southern and central Europe. This combination raises the risk of an extended season.

Experts and officials say the response must blend urgent tactical support, such as international aerial and ground assistance, better equipment and night patrols, with medium- and long-term strategies including improved forest and land management, stronger prevention and monitoring systems, stricter enforcement against arson and negligence, and efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are worsening heat and drought conditions.

“The Mediterranean has become one of the world’s most critical climate change hotspots,” Lagouvardos warned, stressing that while firefighting saves lives and property in the short term, only sustained investment in prevention, planning and climate policy can reduce the human and economic costs of future fire seasons.