Twelve people have died with many others injured or unaccounted for in wildfires in Almeria, southern Spain, as extreme heat continues across much of Europe.
Details of the tragedy are still emerging, with the wildfire still active and authorities piecing together reports from areas worst affected.
Witnesses reported that the fire may have started after a powerline fell, igniting dry vegetation before spreading rapidly through surrounding woodland but authorities have not yet officially confirmed the cause. Road closures and evacuations are in place.
Fire fighters are also battling major fires in France, Portugal, Greece and elsewhere.
The Andalusia region of the Almeria fire has baked in 40C (104F) degree heat in recent days in the third heatwave of the early northern European summer. May and June both produced extensive heatwaves across the continent, leaving much of the area without any significant rain.
Earlier, the European Commission began to mobilise assistance through its EU Civil Protection Mechanism, where member states can call for support.
France activated it on 5 July. The European Commission mobilised 4 rescEU airplanes from Sweden and Cyprus.. Portugal activated the mechanism on 3 July. 118 firefighters and 45 vehicles from Spain arrived on site a few hours after the activation and 3 rescEU firefighting aircrafts from Italy and Spain were deployed.
For the 2026 European season, the Commission has deployed a record number of firefighters to combat wildfires. 777 firefighters from 14 European countries are already, or soon will be, strategically pre-positioned in high-risk areas across Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. In parallel, 22 firefighting airplanes and 5 helicopters from the EU fleet are ready to support countries at need.
The immediate outlook for much of Europe appears to offer little relief. This is the fire danger forecast for this week, up to 15 July, just issued from the European Forest Fires Information System:
Very extreme conditions dominate a large area of western and central Europe, with the heaviest concentration across France, Spain and northern Portugal, the Alpine arc extending into northern Italy, the south of the UK and southeast Ireland.
Extreme conditions extend into southern Portugal and southern and central Spain, parts of the British Isles, and the western Balkans.
Very high danger covers the remaining parts of the UK and central Ireland, southern Scandinavia, and parts of Türkiye.
High to moderate danger is foreacst for scattered areas across central-eastern Europe and further into Türkiye. Eastern Europe, northern Scandinavia, and Russia remain at low fire danger.
Despite the current wildfire intensity, this season has not started as badly as 2025 for Europe, albeit the worst year on record for wildfire. So far, 155,569 hectares have been burnt, compared to 228.098 hectares at the same time last year.
1057 large fires have been detected – less than the 1182 of last year but well above the long term average of 476 fires.
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In 1989 while in Graduate School at Oregon State University I had an opportunity to travel to the University of Castilla-La Mancha to speak to over 150 students about “Fire in North America”. Just South of Madrid in Albecete. One of the biggest concerns was the planting of Long Leaf Pines following World War II by the United States. It was a restoration effort that changed the Fire Regime that lend credence to Stand Replacement Wildfires at this point in time in many landscapes of Spain. I spent an entire week assessing various aspects of the changes in Fire Regimes over many landscapes due to restoration following the WW2. Not just in Europe but also areas in South America.