Heatwave fuels wildfires across Europe as UK records driest July in 190 years

A prolonged heatwave is sweeping across Europe, igniting large‑scale fires and pushing the United Kingdom into its driest July since 1836. The Met Office has placed all of Wales and more than half of England in official drought status, while Wales matched its warmest July on record and England recorded its second‑warmest. Water companies have warned that hosepipe bans may follow if rainfall does not return soon.

Greece: a wind‑driven blaze and a tragic helicopter crash

In Greece, a fire west of Athens broke containment lines after high winds returned. Investigators have linked the blaze to a faulty power line from a wind farm, leading to the arrest of two contractors on charges of negligent arson. The incident follows a mid‑air collision of two firefighting helicopters the previous day, which killed a Greek crew member and a Danish crew member and hospitalised two others.

Authorities have evacuated more than 1,000 residents and holiday‑makers from the seaside resort of Porto Germeno and surrounding areas, and over 250 people have been rescued by boat from the beaches. On Monday alone, fire crews deployed 12 water‑dropping planes and 11 helicopters. "This is a difficult fire that has troubled us," fire service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said.

France: record evacuations and a lingering blaze in Provence

In the southwest, a fire near Bordeaux forced the evacuation of 224,000 people – the largest displacement since the war – before authorities began allowing some to return home. The fire consumed roughly 420 square kilometres, an area four times the size of Paris, and destroyed 183 homes in the commune of Le Porge. Campsites on the Cap Ferret peninsula remain closed as a precaution.

Further east, about 1,500 firefighters, supported by water‑dropping helicopters, are still reinforcing the perimeter of a separate fire in Provence. That blaze has scorched around 18 square kilometres and could flare up again if winds strengthen.

Netherlands: a forest fire reaches the Low Countries

In the Dutch province of Limburg, a large forest fire halted train services and prompted the evacuation of a campsite due to smoke. The Dutch air force responded by dispatching two Chinook helicopters equipped with water buckets – a rare deployment that highlights how far north the fire season has moved.

Climate backdrop

According to the EU’s Copernicus climate service, Europe has been warming at more than twice the global average since the 1980s. This accelerated warming is turning what were once rare extreme‑heat events into a regular summer feature, expanding fire risk into nations such as the Netherlands that historically experienced few large blazes.

The combination of deeper droughts, longer heatwaves and increasingly combustible vegetation suggests that summers like the current one may become the new norm rather than the exception.

The details were first reported by the source report.