A record-breaking wildfire season in Europe
By the end of 2025, Europe experienced its most severe wildfire season on record. According to data from the European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS), more than 1,033,000 hectares were burned, nearly three times the area affected during the same period in the previous year and well above the average of the past two decades. Wildfire occurrence also increased significantly, with over 2,200 fires detected compared to 1,540 in 2024, resulting in substantial environmental impacts and an estimated release of 42.7 million tonnes of CO₂.
Southern Europe at the centre of forest fire intensification
A clear example of this intensification of large forest fires in Europe was observed at the end of August 2025 in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. During this period, around 541,000 hectares were burned in a region of approximately 15 million hectares, representing more than half of the total area burned in Europe so far this year, despite occupying only about 2% of the European Union’s territory. The fires developed very rapidly over a few weeks, with several large fires burning simultaneously, exceeding national response capacity and prompting the deployment of military support and the activation, for the first time in Spain, of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. This episode coincided with an intense 16 day heatwave that affected south-western Europe, creating extremely favourable conditions for the spread of fire.
Currently the duration of the fire season, defined as the number of days per year with high or extreme fire risk, varies significantly between different regions of Europe, with the Mediterranean basin countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain, in which the fire season can last up to four months, being particularly vulnerable. This area coincides with the distribution of forest fires according to European fire statistics, which show a disproportionate concentration of large fires in Mediterranean countries.
Global warming is further accentuating this difference between northern and southern Europe. With global warming of 1.5°C, the fire season in the south of the continent could be extended by one to two weeks, and if warming continues this risk period could be extended by an additional four to six weeks, meaning that some regions would be exposed to high-risk conditions for almost half the year and affecting up to 15 million people across Europe.
Economic and infrastructural impacts of wildfires
These growing climatic pressures are already translating into substantial economic impacts, the European Commission estimates that direct losses amount to between €2 billion and €3 billion per year across the Union as a whole. Wildfires impact forest resources, leisure and tourism opportunities, as well as damaging to infrastructure such as power lines, buildings and roads.
Fires also have deep ecological impacts reducing the capacity of forests to absorb carbon and causing biodiversity lost. The soil also suffers profound damage whit nutrient loss and water absorption capacity being disrupted. As a result, burned areas become more vulnerable to erosion, flooding and landslides increasing the risk of further natural disasters. In addition to the ecosystem disruption, forest fires release enormous amounts of CO₂ and other pollutants into the atmosphere that directly affect human health. These contaminants can cause inflammation, oxidative stress and weaken the immune system’s response with numerous studies showing that even short-term exposure to smoke from fires is associated with an increased risk of disease and premature death, especially from respiratory problems.
European policy responses to increasing forest fires risk
In response to the increased risk of forest fires, the European Commission launched the Forest Fire Prevention Action Plan (2022), establishing a framework for strengthening wildfire response across the continent trough three main objectives: a) improved capacity to prevent wildfires, b) improved knowledge on wildfires for increased prevention and c) increased financing of wildfire prevention actions. This approach is reinforced by the EU Forest Strategy for 2030, which aims to increase the resilience of forests to climate change and reducing the risk of fires through sustainable forest management. Similarly, European guidelines on land based fire prevention promote practical measures such as vegetation management and reducing the accumulation of combustible material on the ground, which helps to reduce both the likelihood and intensity of fires and to facilitate and make firefighting safer.
Rural communities, here homes, crops and forests coexist closely, are often the most affected given their dependence on the land for their economy and their lack of infrastructure and emergency services. This context highlights the relevance of the STORCITO project, which directly focuses on strengthening wildfire prevention in rural and forested areas by promoting land management, risk awareness and the active involvement of local communities.
STORCITO’s approach to wildfire prevention
STORCITO aims to deliver an innovative wildfire risk management and monitoring tool that integrates existing data sources with newly collected data, including drone imagery and soil moisture measurements to improve current available alternatives. In parallel, the project will deploy and validate a new wildfire prevention application, these tools will validated trough the participation of local authorities and rural stakeholders in Galicia (Spain) and Attica (Greece). The project will also test a nature-based wildfire prevention intervention using cattle grazing, guided and monitored with digital fencing software and GPS collars to control vegetation and maintain rural firebreaks.
In this context of increasing risk, only through integrated prevention based on scientific knowledge, sustainable land management and the active involvement of rural communities will it be possible to reduce Europe’s vulnerability to forest fires and protect both people and the ecosystems on which they depend. In this way, STORCITO aims to position itself as a concrete response to the growing threat of forest fires in rural areas of Europe, demonstrating how the combination of technological innovation, nature-based solutions and local participation can the resilience of the rural territory.