Forest fires in Europe: Heat wave brings new danger!

Forest fires in Europe: Heat wave brings new danger!

In the past few days, there has been a worrying increase in forest fires in Europe, which are still exacerbated by persistent heat waves. Today, on July 4, 2025, the climatic conditions and fire brigade operations make you take notice. While Greece has a certain relaxation in the fires on Crete and in the Athens area, the surroundings remain alarming. An exchange of strong winds could be flare up at any time, as Südtirol News .

in Turkey, where forest fires rage especially in the province of Izmir, the mayor describes the situation as "terrible". Three villages have already been destroyed, and again a strong wind is creating extinguishing work. Here the numbers of affected areas have increased dramatically, over 50,000 people had to be evacuated. In addition, two lives in Turkey, including a forestry worker, have been lost through the fires.

heat and consequences in Europe

While the heat and the associated forest fires stop in southern Europe, Italian authorities for 21 cities, including Rome and Milan, have published extreme heat warnings. Temperatures of up to 46 degrees are already predicted, which increases the danger for healthy and sick people alike. In Spain and France, a maximum temperatures of up to 42 degrees are reported, with some departments in France even reaching the alarm level red. ZDF today emphasizes that such extreme weather events are related to climate change.

In total, there are up to 16 departments with high warning levels in France, where several schools had to close. In Spain, not only the temperatures are worrying, there is also a health risk for the population. The heat is a permanent threat this season and experts show that the increase in such heat waves has been alarming since the early 2000s. Tagesschau informed that in 2003, 2010 and 2022 there will be a total of up to 72,000 heat notes in Europe.

The coming days will be crucial, while Europe has to face the ongoing challenge of heat and forest fires. Communities must continue to be vigilant and take preventive measures to minimize the risks.