Europe burns: a visual guide to the wildfires
Posted: 30 Jul 2026, 17:18
Ferocious flames continue to rage in parts of France and Spain, with no sign of abating. We chart the destruction in graphics and pictures
By Damian Carrington, Lucy Swan, Ana Lucía González Paz, Harvey Symonshe hellish infernos that have torn through parts of France and Spain have caused deaths, the evacuation of 330,000 people from their homes, widespread destruction and clouds of toxic smoke. Records have already been smashed and with the fourth heatwave of the European summer setting in, there are few signs of the waves of wildfires ending.
France has already surpassed the worst previous year for the size of the area burned, with August, usually the hottest month, yet to come.
In Spain, the cumulative number of fires in 2026 has also set a new record for this time of year, and the cumulative burnt area remains just below the level reached by late July during a devastating fire season in 2022.
Why have the wildfires been so bad?
The extreme severity of the blazes is the result of “whiplash” wet-then-dry weather this year, supercharged by the climate crisis. Last winter and much of spring in western Europe was very wet, encouraging heavy growth of trees, shrubs and other vegetation.
However, by May the first of a series of heatwaves had hit Europe. All heatwaves are made more intense and more likely by the global heating caused by fossil fuel burning. The heatwave at the end of June was the most severe ever recorded in Europe and would have been impossible without the added heat from more than a century of carbon pollution.
Western Europe’s hottest June
souce https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... -wildfires
By Damian Carrington, Lucy Swan, Ana Lucía González Paz, Harvey Symonshe hellish infernos that have torn through parts of France and Spain have caused deaths, the evacuation of 330,000 people from their homes, widespread destruction and clouds of toxic smoke. Records have already been smashed and with the fourth heatwave of the European summer setting in, there are few signs of the waves of wildfires ending.
France has already surpassed the worst previous year for the size of the area burned, with August, usually the hottest month, yet to come.
In Spain, the cumulative number of fires in 2026 has also set a new record for this time of year, and the cumulative burnt area remains just below the level reached by late July during a devastating fire season in 2022.
Why have the wildfires been so bad?
The extreme severity of the blazes is the result of “whiplash” wet-then-dry weather this year, supercharged by the climate crisis. Last winter and much of spring in western Europe was very wet, encouraging heavy growth of trees, shrubs and other vegetation.
However, by May the first of a series of heatwaves had hit Europe. All heatwaves are made more intense and more likely by the global heating caused by fossil fuel burning. The heatwave at the end of June was the most severe ever recorded in Europe and would have been impossible without the added heat from more than a century of carbon pollution.
Western Europe’s hottest June
souce https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... -wildfires