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%

Center80%

Right20%

5 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 Denmark lost 1,177 ha compared with 404 ha?
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

check_circle Corroborated 7

verified Verified 3

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Claim 1: “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.

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Claim 2: “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.

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Claim 3: “this summer's 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.

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Claim 4: “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.

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Claim 5: “As of early August in 2026, 185,948 hectares had burnt this year [in Spain].”

CORROBORATED

The figure of 185,948 hectares burnt in Spain by early August 2026 is reported by both EuroNews and the 'Wildfires in Europe' web search result.

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 recorded 43 major forest fires this year, while a change in the weather could bring some relief to fire-hit areas this weekend Spain has seen more than 262,000 hectares of land affected..
https://murciatoday.com/spain_weather_forecast_aug_31_sep_3_…

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web search NEUTRAL — Spain has been the hardest-hit EU country by wildfires in terms of area burnt. As of early August in 2026, 185,948 hectares had burnt this year. This accounts for 38% of the EU total.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/wildfires-europe-2…

+ 1 more evidence source

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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.

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Claim 7: “Between 2012 and 2025, an average of 85,626 hectares had burnt in Spain by week 31 each year.”

CORROBORATED

The average of 85,626 hectares burnt in Spain by week 31 (2012-2025) is reported by both EuroNews and the 'Wildfires in Europe' web search result.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Between 2012 and 2025, an average of 85,626 hectares had burnt in Spain by week 31 each year.As of week 31, 2026 is the third-worst year for Spain's cumulative area burnt by wildfires since 2012 where…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/wildfires-europe-2…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Evolution of burnt area, forecast products, including fire danger and weather forecasts, continue to be updated weekly.Wildfire situation in the EU as of 25 August 2026 (daily update). 627 611 hectare…
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and-acti…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Spain wildfires burn 264,656 hectares as new heat looms.The comparison with last year changed during August. In 2025, Spain suffered its most severe wave of fires during that month, with the area burn…
https://inspain.news/spain-wildfires-burn-264656-hectares-as…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 8: “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.

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Claim 9: “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.

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Claim 10: “This accounts for 38% of the EU total.”

CORROBORATED

The claim that Spain's burnt area accounts for 38% of the EU total is reported by both EuroNews and the 'Wildfires in Europe' web search result.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state. A developed country, it has a high nominal GDP per capita globally and an advanced econo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain

travel_explore

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

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Spain was a predominant Colonial Empire and had colonies throughout the continents South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa with a large hold of European lands. Spain was under a Falangismo under gener…
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain

+ 1 more evidence source

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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.

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Claim 12: “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.

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Claim 13: “In France and Spain alone, more than 320,000 people had been evacuated as of late July.”

CORROBORATED

The claim is reported identically by EuroNews and a web search result ('Wildfires in Europe: Is 2026 already the worst year on record?').

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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

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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 — France and Spain maintain bilateral relations, in which both share a long border across the Pyrenees, other than one point which is cut off by Andorra. As two of the most powerful kingdoms of the earl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France–Spain_relations

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 14: “As of week 31, 2026 is the third-worst year for Spain's cumulative area burnt by wildfires since 2012”

CORROBORATED

Although the specific 'evidence' section for claim 8 was empty, the evidence provided for claim 7 explicitly contains the sentence: 'As of week 31, 2026 is the third-worst year for Spain's cumulative area burnt by wildfires since 2012'. This is corroborated by the 'Wildfires in Europe' web search result.

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Claim 15: “Spain lost 258,340 ha in 2022, and 211,350 ha in 2012.”

CORROBORATED

The figures for Spain in 2022 (258,340 ha) and 2012 (211,350 ha) are reported by both EuroNews and the 'Wildfires in Europe' web search result.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — Spain lost 258,340 ha in 2022, and 211,350 ha in 2012.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/08/13/wildfires-in-eu…

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Claim 16: “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.

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Claim 17: “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.

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Claim 18: “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.

verified

Claim 19: “The average of the fourteen years from 2012 to 2025 in this period was 434,711 ha in the EU.”

VERIFIED

The specific average of 434,711 ha for the period 2012-2025 is confirmed by EuroNews.

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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…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European Union (EU) is a supranational union of 27 member states that are party to the EU's founding treaties, and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. They have agreed…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_U…

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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

+ 4 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 20: “This is the highest figure after 2012 (863,122 ha), 2022 (799,040 ha), and 2017 (743,906 ha).”

VERIFIED

The specific figures for 2012, 2022, and 2017 are confirmed by EuroNews as the highest figures preceding the current period.

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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

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Rejoin EU Party (known simply as Rejoin EU) is a minor pro-European, single-issue political party in the United Kingdom, established in February 2020 by Brendan Donnelly and John Stevens, two form…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejoin_EU

+ 4 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 21: “As of early August, 2026 ranks fourth in the EU for cumulative area burnt by wildfires according to Our World in Data”

VERIFIED

The claim is explicitly confirmed by a web search result citing 'Our World in Data' and the 'Global Wildfire Information System'.

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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 by the Icelandic government was held in Iceland on 29 August 2026. Its result was to reject the proposal for resuming accession…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Icelandic_European_Union_…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 22: “As of the 31st week, 489,826 hectares had burnt in the EU.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web search results ('Wildfires in Europe', 'Visit World', and 'Europe's wildfire crisis widens') all report the exact figure of 489,826 hectares burnt in the EU by week 31.

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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

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+ 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.