Europe’s heat wave fuels wildfires and evacuations across France

Fire crews south of Paris battled a fast-moving blaze in the Fontainebleau forest that had burned through about 800 hectares by Monday morning, forcing evacuations in the village of Vaudoue, shutting part of the A6 highway and disrupting train service near Paris. Nearly 400 firefighters and two water-bombing planes were deployed as French authorities warned of high fire danger tied to drought, intense heat and low humidity.

Western Europe recorded its warmest June on record at 20.74 degrees Celsius, or 3.05 degrees above the 1991 to 2020 average, and June 2026 was the second-warmest June globally. Europe endured its third heat wave since May, and the World Meteorological Organization and Copernicus Climate Change Service tied the extreme weather to record-high sea surface temperatures for June. The World Meteorological Organization puts Europe’s warming at around two degrees in the 50 years since the 1976 heatwave, making it the fastest-warming continent.

Wildfire risk was especially elevated in France and the Iberian Peninsula, where high temperatures, dry vegetation and low humidity were combining to push flames faster across the landscape. In France, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez put forest fires at 17,000 hectares this year, about twice the amount recorded over the same period in 2025.

At least 12 people died while trying to flee a wildfire in Almeria province, and 23 others were missing as the fire spread rapidly through wooded terrain around Los Gallardos. Spanish firefighters put the total at about 57,000 hectares so far this year, roughly half the annual average for the past two decades and about 40% of all area burned in the European Union.

The season is starting earlier because vegetation is drying out sooner, forcing crews to confront larger fires before peak summer heat arrives. Portugal's June 2017 wildfire killed more than 60 people, and Spain's record fire season last August burned about 330,000 hectares; Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said prevention had been clearly insufficient. The World Health Organization puts more than 200,000 heat-related deaths in Europe over the past four years, with older adults and outdoor workers among the most vulnerable.