Europe enters a new era of mega fires

The massive flames that swept through southwestern France burned so intensely that they created a powerful conflagration storm. While this rare phenomenon is sometimes seen in megafires affecting the United States and Canada, it was unprecedented in France until now, and experts say it is just a sign that Europe is entering a new era of fires.

There have always been forest fires in Europe, but they are increasing increasingly extreme As the climate crisis increases its impact. Firefighters in France and Spain this week are trying to contain fires that are fiercer and more erratic than they have ever dealt with before.

On Wednesday, officials in Spain and France said there were some wildfires. had been stabilizedBut he expressed concerns that things could still get worse due to the fourth heat wave in Europe this year.

The European Union also warned There is a risk of fire further east In Greece and Italy.

All this is Europe’s Last year’s record-breaking fire seasonExperts say the continent joins a long list of regions. Siberia to Amazon – they now endure back-to-back extreme fire seasons.

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“We have entered an era of fires that are impossible to extinguish,” said Víctor Resco de Dios, a lecturer in forestry engineering and global change at the University of Lleida in Spain. “These are fires burning with the intensity of several atomic bombs.”

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Forest fires in France have now scorched many more people 160,000 hectares (about 617 square miles), them largest recorded There are still months of wildfire season left for the country.

“The situation we face today is the most difficult we have ever recorded, the most difficult since the Second World War,” French President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to Bordeaux on Monday. He called the fires “completely unprecedented.”

One of the most striking examples of this, according to fire officials, was the appearance of fire clouds, or “pyrocumulonimbus,” that formed in the Gironde region near Bordeaux over the weekend.

Fire clouds occur when particularly intense wildfires create a cloud of extreme heat; This smoke quickly rises into the cold air above and condenses into high storm clouds. These can create their own wind, rain and lightning, turning fires into erratic and unpredictable self-feeding firestorms.

This phenomenon is well documented in Australia, Canada and the USA; Los Angeles fires in 2025, rare tornado or firenado – but they are not common at all in Europe.

The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said it could not yet say for certain that this was France’s first pyrocumulonimbus. “However, if confirmed, its development would highlight the extraordinary intensity of the current fire and the extraordinary atmospheric conditions in which it burned,” said Francesca Di Giuseppe, the centre’s fire forecast coordinator.

Experts said that the size of the fires was also remarkable. They burned huge swaths of land in France and Spain, both of which have requested aid from the EU. “A synchronized, multinational bushfire crisis is rare in Europe,” said Stefan Doerr, director of the Bushfire Research Center at Swansea University in Wales.

Officials said fires were growing near major cities, including one that has ravaged the mountainous province of Avila, west of Spain’s capital Madrid, and is now the country’s largest on record.

“What is unusual is the current number of devastating fires: fires that spread rapidly, overwhelming fire crews and forcing communities to evacuate,” said Guillermo Rein, professor of fire science at Imperial College London. More than 300,000 people have been evacuated in the two countries so far, but some were able to begin returning home on Wednesday.

Forest fires have started to increase in Türkiye as well. Authorities said the fires spread in the agricultural and forest areas of the southwestern Muğla province on the Aegean Sea coast. According to Reuters, based on the Greek Fire Brigade, two firefighters lost their lives while fighting the flames on the island of Crete in neighboring Greece.

No matter how many firefighting resources are mobilized, fires of this size are nearly impossible to completely suppress until fuel runs out or persistent rain falls, experts say.

“There is a general expectation and acceptance of out-of-control bushfires in Australia and parts of the US and Canada,” said Swansea University’s Doerr. “There is still a widespread belief in Europe that such fires can be completely prevented.”

Why are these fires so bad?

Each wildfire is complex and unique and is influenced by many factors, including land management, terrain, and firefighting resources. But scientists say extreme weather conditions made worse by climate change are the main cause of fires in Europe.

Global warming is causing stronger fluctuations between wet and dry extremes. Matthew Jones, an independent research fellow at the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in England, said it was a “bullwhip effect”.

This past winter was unusually wet in France and Spain, leading to increased vegetation growth. Then the weather turned. Western Europe has been shaken by a crisis since May. a succession of brutal heat wavesscorching the landscape. This heat “provides a ‘whip crack’ effect and turns dense vegetation into highly flammable fuel,” Jones said.

‘Dantean scenarios’

Officials said that it may take months for the current fires to be completely extinguished, but their effects will continue for a long time.

The dangerous, smog-filled skies they produce are harmful to health. It is estimated that pollution from forest fires caused more than 100,000 deaths globally every year.

There is also damage to economies. These fires are growing near major European cities, affecting tourist spots, wine-growing regions and vital defense centres.

Moreover, they can also change people’s relationship with the land they live in, as they now find themselves under constant threat of wildfire.

Scientists say that as long as humans continue to burn fossil fuels and increase temperatures, we should expect fires to become more frequent and more severe in Europe, as elsewhere, in the future.

“It is difficult to predict how far things can go,” Resco de Dios said, “we will not be able to rule out Dantean scenarios such as those seen in California or Australia soon, where fires or fire complexes reach hundreds of thousands of hectares or even a million hectares.”

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report.

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