Southern and central Europe are once again in the grip of a punishing summer, as an extended heatwave fuels wildfires from the Peloponnese to the Pyrenees and pushes river levels to dangerously low points across the continent. Firefighters in Greece have spent days battling blazes near Athens, in the Voiotia region and on the Ionian island of Cephalonia, where a new fire front broke out overnight amid strong winds that have made containment efforts especially difficult.
Emergency crews described conditions as close to maximum fire risk across large parts of Attica and the surrounding regions, with gusting winds repeatedly reigniting flare-ups that had appeared to be under control. Two helicopters assisting in the firefighting effort collided while working a blaze in Greece, according to local reports, highlighting the physical toll the crisis is taking on emergency responders as well as the landscape.
In France, authorities say they have largely halted the spread of wildfires that tore through the southwest earlier in the summer, though officials remain cautious. Police have arrested more than 300 people in connection with fires across the country, with dozens still in custody, as investigators probe how many blazes were accidental versus deliberately set. A major fire near Bordeaux, which at its peak forced roughly 200,000 people to evacuate and scorched an area several times the size of Paris, is now largely contained, and most evacuated residents have been allowed to return home. Fire crews, however, continue to monitor smouldering hot spots, warning that shifting winds could still cause flare-ups.
Spain’s wildfire situation is also improving, though officials caution that flames are still spreading in some areas. The European Union’s emergency response coordinator has warned that even as fires stabilise in the west, new outbreaks are likely to emerge further east in Greece and Italy as the heatwave migrates across the continent. Vineyards near Bordeaux have so far escaped serious damage, according to wine industry experts, who note that grapes are not yet ripe enough to absorb smoke taint — though they caution that prolonged exposure to smoke could still affect flavour if fires persist deeper into the growing season.
Perhaps the most striking sign of the heatwave’s severity has come from Hungary, where the country’s sole nuclear power plant was forced to shut down for the first time in more than four decades because the Danube River has dried up too much to provide adequate cooling water. The shutdown illustrates how extreme heat is no longer just a public health and agricultural concern in Europe, but increasingly a threat to critical infrastructure and energy security as well.
Scientists point out that Europe is warming roughly twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, making it the fastest-warming continent on Earth. That trend has translated into longer, more intense fire seasons, drier rivers, and heat extremes that once seemed rare but are now recurring almost every summer. Firefighting unions across the bloc have repeatedly warned that staffing levels remain too low to keep pace with the growing frequency and intensity of these events, calling for greater investment in prevention, training and equipment.
For residents across Greece, Spain and France, the immediate priority remains simply getting through the current heatwave safely — staying hydrated, avoiding peak afternoon heat, and heeding evacuation orders where they are issued. But for policymakers, the deeper challenge is longer term: adapting infrastructure, water management and emergency services to a climate in which this kind of summer crisis is becoming the new normal rather than the exception Next Article
