Europe Faces Record Wildfires Amid Heatwave

On July 30, 2026, big fires spread across France, Spain, and Greece because the weather was very hot and dry.

In France, a huge fire near the city of Bordeaux burned a lot of forest and made 220,000 people leave their homes.

Two people were taken into police custody because they might have started the fire.

In Greece, three firefighters lost their lives while fighting a fire on the island of Crete, and many tourists had to leave their hotels.

In Spain, more than ten fires were burning at the same time, and people in the towns of Zamora, León, and Castellón had to move to safer places.

The heat in Europe was the hottest it has been in many years, with temperatures 3.6 °C higher than the long‑term average.

The strong winds made the fires spread faster and made it hard for planes to help.

The governments said the situation was “extreme” and that they were working to stop the fires.

The summer of 2026 has been the most dangerous for wildfires in Europe in recent memory.