The scale of the wildfires in France and Spain is strikingpublished at 14:12 BST
Justin Rowlatt
Climate editor
Image source, ReutersImage caption,
Wildfire burns near Lacanau, France, following a heatwave and water shortages
July is the heart of the Mediterranean wildfire season, so the fires in Spain and southern France are not unusually early. What is striking is the scale already reached.
Spain has burned far more land than at the same point last year, while France says significant fire activity began several weeks earlier than usual and the area burned is already well above normal.
Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average, and that rapid warming is making its summers hotter and, particularly in the south, drier.
Those conditions leave soil, trees and other vegetation with less moisture, creating the fuel in which wildfires can take hold. A spark is still needed – most often from human activity, usually accidental but sometimes deliberate, or from lightning.
Once a fire starts, extreme heat, dry vegetation and strong winds can help it spread faster, burn more intensely and become much harder to control.
How forests and landscapes are managed also matter: Accumulated vegetation and abandoned land can provide more fuel for fires.
But the European Environment Agency has said “climate change has increased forest fire risk across Europe”, with the greatest danger expected in southern Europe.
