Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · Aug 13, 2026 · 755 words · By Servet Yanatma

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What to know about Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?

As of early August, 2026 is the worst year for several European countries over the last 15 years in terms of cumulative area burnt by wildfires.

Claims checked 22

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

As of early August, 2026 is the worst year for several European countries over the last 15 years in terms of cumulative area burnt by wildfires.

Why it matters

Euronews Business takes a closer look at the countries hit the hardest.

Common ground

Wildfires have been hitting Europe this summer.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record??
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that As of early August in 2026, Italy (79,084 ha), Portugal (47,776 ha) and Greece (23,839 ha) have also been heavily affected by wildfires?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/08/13/wildfires-in-europe-is-2026-already…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 22 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 12

info Single Source 5

check_circle Corroborated 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

schedule

Claim 1: “As of early August in 2026, Italy (79,084 ha), Portugal (47,776 ha) and Greece (23,839 ha) have also been heavily affected by wildfires.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 2: “2026 is the worst year for France since 2012. France lost 86,888 ha to wildfires in 2019, the second-highest figure.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 3: “For Italy, 2026 is the fifth-worst year in the last 15 years for area burnt by wildfires. The same is true for Portugal.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 4: “As of early August in 2026, 185,948 hectares had burnt this year [in Spain].”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific figure of 185,948 hectares burnt in Spain as of early August 2026 is mentioned only in the 'Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?' source.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In France and Spain alone, more than 320,000 people had been evacuated as of late July. Wildfires continue as heatwaves spread with mid-August approaching. Measuring the cost of wildfires is complicat…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/wildfires-europe-2…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — As of early August 2026, approximately 489,800 hectares had been burned in the EU, making this year the fourth-worst on record for the corresponding period, following 2012, 2022, and 2017. At the same…
https://visitworld.today/blog/4273/forest-fires-swept-across…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Spain has come out well ahead of the competition, with eSky data showing the country attracted 27.9% of all September bookings this year, comfortably ahead of Greece on 17%, Italy on 10%, Türkiye on 6…
https://murciatoday.com/why_savvy_travellers_are_ditching_au…

schedule

Claim 5: “The 14-year average for France is 31,648 hectares.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 6: “Austria lost 1,687 ha this year as of early August, compared with 513 ha on average.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 7: “This is the case for the UK too, losing 22,206 ha compared with 12,311 ha.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 8: “This is the highest figure after 2012 (863,122 ha), 2022 (799,040 ha), and 2017 (743,906 ha).”

SINGLE SOURCE

The ranking of 2026 behind 2012, 2022, and 2017 with the specific hectare values provided is only found in the 'Visit World' source.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. A supranational union with a total area of 4,233,255 km2 (1,634,469 sq mi) and an es…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Roaming Regulation 2022 ((EU) 2022/612) bans roaming charges (Eurotariff) within the European Economic Area (EEA), which consists of the member states of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_roaming_regulat…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European patent with unitary effect, also known as the unitary patent, is a European patent which benefits from unitary effect in the participating member states of the European Union. Unitary eff…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_patent

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 9: “Denmark lost 1,177 ha compared with 404 ha.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 10: “Between 2012 and 2025, an average of 85,626 hectares had burnt in Spain by week 31 each year.”

CORROBORATED

The specific average of 85,626 hectares burnt in Spain by week 31 between 2012 and 2025 is mentioned in two separate web search results ('Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?' and another search result snippet).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In mathematics, an average of a collection or group is a value that is most central, common, or typical in some sense, and represents its overall position. In mathematics, it most commonly refers to t…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Comparison of arithmetic mean, median and mode of two different skewed distributions. An average is the "normal" number of a group of numbers made by mixing the group of numbers. In math, an average i…
https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Free calculator to determine the average, or the arithmetic mean, of a given data set. It also returns the calculation steps, sum, count, and more.
https://www.calculator.net/average-calculator.html

schedule

Claim 11: “Turkey lost 39,556 ha this year so far, compared with 134,707 ha on average.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 12: “This accounts for 38% of the EU total.”

SINGLE SOURCE

No evidence was provided that calculates or confirms that Spain's burnt area accounts for 38% of the EU total.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Spain, [e] officially the Kingdom of Spain, [f] is a country in Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. [g] Featuring the southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the larg…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The location of Spain in Europe A hydrographic map of Spain The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to Spain. Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern a…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_Spain

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Spain is known for flamenco which is usually performed by the Caló. Spain was a predominant Colonial Empire and had colonies throughout the continents South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa with a la…
https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain

help

Claim 13: “Spain lost 258,340 ha in 2022, and 211,350 ha in 2012.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific hectare losses for Spain in 2022 (258,340 ha) and 2012 (211,350 ha).

check_circle

Claim 14: “As of early August, 2026 ranks fourth in the EU for cumulative area burnt by wildfires according to Our World in Data”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources ('Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?' and 'Visit World - Forest fires swept across Europe in 2026') both state that as of early August 2026, the year ranks fourth in the EU for cumulative area burnt.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since late July 2026, an estimated 80,000 people, mainly young men, have illegally breached and crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta in North Africa, with smaller …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Ceuta_migrant_crisis

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Clacton was held on 13 August 2026, following the resignation of Nigel Farage, its member of Parliament. Farage, who is the leader of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Clacton_by-election

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A referendum on the resumption of European Union membership negotiations was held in Iceland on 29 August 2026. Its result was to reject the proposal for resuming accession negotiations. Iceland appli…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Icelandic_European_Union_…

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 15: “As of week 31, 2026 is the third-worst year for Spain's cumulative area burnt by wildfires since 2012”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the claim that 2026 is the third-worst year for Spain since 2012.

schedule

Claim 16: “The Netherlands lost 1,677 ha compared with 352 ha.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 17: “As of the 31st week, 489,826 hectares had burnt in the EU.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific figure of 489,800 (or 489,826) hectares burnt in the EU by the 31st week is mentioned in the 'Visit World' source. No other independent source confirms this exact numerical value.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — .eu is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the European Union (EU). Launched on 7 December 2005, the domain is available for any person, company or organization based in the European Union. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.eu

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Brexit (; a portmanteau of "Britain" and "exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CE…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brexit

menu_book

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 18: “France is second, with 99,092 ha over this period, corresponding to 20% of the EU total.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 19: “heatwaves and wildfires in southern England, which have already burnt more than 20,000 hectares”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 20: “Germany lost 6,045 ha compared with 3,098 ha.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 21: “In France and Spain alone, more than 320,000 people had been evacuated as of late July.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only one web search result ('Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?') explicitly mentions the figure of 'more than 320,000 people' evacuated in France and Spain. Other sources mention smaller, fragmented numbers (80,000, 40,000, 220,000) but do not corroborate the specific total of 320,000.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The France–Spain football rivalry (French: Rivalité footballistique France-Espagne, Spanish: Rivalidad futbolística entre Francia y España) is one of the biggest and most heated association football r…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France–Spain_football_rivalry

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Spain national football team have represented Spain in men's international football competition since 1920, and are governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. They are the reigning World a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_national_football_team

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 22: “The average of the fourteen years from 2012 to 2025 in this period was 434,711 ha in the EU.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

None of the provided evidence sources mention the specific average of 434,711 ha for the period 2012-2025 in the EU.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Albania is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the European Union (EU). It applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009, and has since June 2014 been an official candidate for accession. The…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Albania_to_the_Eu…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iceland is heavily integrated into the European Union via the Agreement on the European Economic Area and the Schengen Agreement, despite its status as a non-EU member state. Iceland applied for membe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland–European_Union_relatio…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.