Two firefighting helicopters collided on Sunday (August 2, 2026) while battling a wind-driven wildfire in the Porto Germeno area, west of Athens. Footage showed one of the aircraft crashing to the ground.

Each helicopter was carrying a two-person crew, the Greek fire department said. A search-and-rescue operation was underway. Authorities did not immediately provide information on the crews’ condition.

The collision underscored the continuing danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s wildfire emergency.

The continent’s crisis split into three stark fronts: strong winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris, and Spain’s major fires stopped advancing.

The most immediate danger was in Greece. Flames spread through western Attica, the region around Athens, threatening communities and an industrial district outside Megara as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea.

The danger carried grim resonance in a region where the 2018 Mati wildfire killed 104 people, Europe’s deadliest blaze this century.

Farther west, containment brought no end to the emergency. France’s largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

Hot spots still burned within a 420-square-kilometer scar, thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second, still-uncontained blaze in Provence.

Together, fires in France and Spain have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer and stretched emergency services across simultaneous disasters.

Record fire damage underscores Europe’s growing wildfire threat

The mass evacuations in France and Spain are the latest measure of a wildfire threat growing across Europe.

The continent entered 2026 after its worst fire year on record, with more than 10,000 square kilometres burned in 2025. Over the past four decades, wildfires have been linked to nearly 800 deaths across much of Europe, according to the European Environment Agency.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. It has warmed more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Human-caused climate change made the extreme fire-weather conditions behind this year’s French blazes at least twice as likely, scientists at World Weather Attribution found in a rapid analysis conducted while the fires were still burning.

Gale-force winds cripple aerial assault near Athens

Nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft were deployed, but gale-force winds drove flames through dry forest and crippled the response, preventing some aircraft from reaching the sea to collect water.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli as smoke rose over the mountains. Crews were particularly concerned about Porto Germeno, a seaside community on the Gulf of Corinth. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the operation.

The fire began Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens. Firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea Friday and another 12 Saturday — often the last escape route when fire and smoke cut the few roads from coastal communities.

Wildfire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros estimated the blaze had affected 40 to 50 square kilometres, though authorities had issued no official figure.

Elsewhere in Greece, flames threatened homes on Kefalonia, forcing evacuations from inland communities as aircraft made water drops over the Ionian island. Firefighters battled another blaze near Nea Tenedos in Halkidiki.

Earlier this week, two firefighters died fighting a fire on Crete, while a third was killed in the Peloponnese.

“A pristine forest, a paradise, was surrendered to the hands of the fire,” local farmer Minas Tzortzanis said on Saturday (August 1, 2026). “There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction.”

France guards vast megafire scar against renewed flames

In southwestern France, the Gironde megafire remained held within its perimeter on Sunday (August 2, 2026) but continued to burn after scorching 420 square kilometres of forest in 10 days.

“The fire is now fixed, which does not mean that the fire is extinguished,” the Gironde prefecture said, using the French firefighting term for a blaze whose advance has been stopped.

The region remained under France’s highest red forest-fire alert. Dry conditions, soaring temperatures around Bordeaux and afternoon winds threatened to rekindle the flames.

In Le Porge, local officials said about 150 homes were destroyed. Mechanic Matthieu Plessis returned Saturday to the ruins of a house that had been in his family for seven generations.

“There are places I don’t even recognise anymore,” he said. “You don’t even know what was here anymore, or who lived where.”

Firefighters from Ukraine, Lithuania and French Polynesia were expected on Sunday (August 2, 2026) and Monday (August 3, 2026) to reinforce the operation.

Provence fire stops advancing but remains uncontained

In southeastern France, nearly 1,500 firefighters battled a separate blaze in the Var department that tore through about 18 square kilometres in little more than a day.

The Gros Bessillon fire was stabilised on Sunday after its perimeter held overnight, but it remained uncontained. Some 2,500 people were evacuated as flames threatened nearby communities.

It was the fourth major fire to strike central Var since July 19. A smaller blaze near Brignoles earlier in the week forced actor George Clooney and his family, along with about 700 other residents, to evacuate before it was brought under control.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said France’s fires were generally under control but warned that conditions remained volatile. He appointed a national coordinator to oversee reconstruction in fire-ravaged areas.

More than 1,170 square kilometres have burned across France this year.

Spain’s deadly fire siege eases as crews guard perimeters

Spain’s major fires — part of a season that has killed at least 13 people, produced the country’s largest recorded wildfire and prompted a national emergency — were no longer advancing Sunday.

In Zamora province near the Portuguese border, more than 20 ground and aerial units guarded the perimeter of the Fermoselle fire against flare-ups in the rugged Arribes del Duero landscape. Most evacuees had returned home, according to local media.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for a national pact to confront wildfires, warning that climate change is making them increasingly destructive.

Published – August 02, 2026 10:42 pm IST

The story so far : Southwestern Europe is witnessing one of its worst wildfire emergencies in decades. Since late July, untamed fires in France’s Gironde department and across three provinces west of Spain’s Madrid have driven over 325,000 people from their homes.

Both the countries have been dealing with dozens of minor wildfires amid deadly heatwaves circulating through the continent. France’s fire broke out near Saumos in the Médoc on July 22 and tore toward Lège-Cap-Ferret, forcing evacuation of the entire Arcachon Bay area. By July 26, flames sat barely 15 km from Bordeaux. Gironde’s prefecture had ordered 220,000 people out, and crews lit deliberate “backfires” near Marcheprime as a last defensive line. In Spain, regional authorities suspect a blaze that started near Burgohondo, in Avila’s Sierra de Gredos, around July 20-21, swept through the Valle de Iruelas nature reserve, merged with a fire in Madrid and reached into Toledo province. By July 26, its perimeter measured some 160 km, with nearly 89,000 people evacuated.

Wildfires amid Europe’s summer heatwave

Roughly 69,500 hectares in France have been lost to wildfires since January, according to the EU’s EFFIS satellite system. Spain’s toll stands near 150,000 hectares for the same period, with the Avila-Madrid-Toledo fire alone damaging 77,000 hectares, according to the country’s Environment Minister.

France has deployed about 1,000 firefighters, a military aircraft carrying 20,000 litres of retardant, and planes loaned by Croatia, Portugal, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Spain has mobilised over 2,700 personnel, including a military emergency unit, plus planes from Greece, Italy, Portugal and Turkey through the EU’s civil-protection mechanism. Both crises coincide with Europe’s ongoing third summer heatwave. An earlier spell led to roughly 1,000 excess deaths in France in June.

Growing influence of climate change

For the first time on French soil, the Gironde fire generated a pyrocumulonimbus: a storm cloud born of the fire’s own superheated air plume, which cools, condenses ash-laden moisture, and triggers lightning that ignites new blazes, authorities said.

Scientists say the crisis reflects the growing influence of climate change on Mediterranean fire regimes. Higher temperatures accelerate evaporation, cause vegetation to dry quickly and lengthen fire seasons. Frontline workers have pointed out that these conditions and the change in wind patterns have further complicated suppression efforts.  

Emergency responses

Governments in both nations have been escalating their responses. Spain has declared a national emergency across Avila, Madrid and Toledo and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is pressing Opposition parties to back a climate pact on prevention funding and crisis communication. French President Emmanuel Macron has convened an emergency Cabinet meeting on Monday (July 27, 2026). Authorities continue to issue mandatory evacuation orders and have urged tourists to avoid affected regions, particularly around Bordeaux and the Gironde coast.

Local media reported the death of two French firefighters during their line of duty near Bordeaux. A now-contained fire near Almería killed thirteen and left ten missing earlier this month, Spain’s deadliest in years, while one more person died near Valencia. Losses include destroyed homes, closed motorways and disrupted rail lines. Culturally and ecologically, Bordeaux’s surrounding vineyards — Gironde alone holds some 115,000 hectares of vines, France’s top wine-growing department — sit in the fire’s projected path, while most parts of Avila’s Valle de Iruelas reserve, home to one of Europe’s most important black-vulture colonies, and Castellon’s Sierra de Espadan natural park have already burned.

The latest wildfire emergency extends beyond France and Spain. Italy has evacuated hundreds of people from its Adriatic coast as separate fires swept through Puglia, while Scotland and other Mediterranean countries have also reported significant flare-ups.

Evacuees in both countries have been told that they cannot return home until the fires are brought under control. Meanwhile, forecasters have warned of rising temperatures again from Tuesday (July 28, 2026). 

Published – July 27, 2026 01:09 pm IST

One of Spain’s deadliest wildfires on record killed 12 people overnight into Friday (July 10, 2026), authorities said, as soaring temperatures grip much of the country.

Several victims of the fire in the southern province of Almeria, a popular holiday destination, were found inside burnt-out vehicles and were thought to have died while trying to flee the flames.

Eight people have been injured and a further 23 are unaccounted for, Andalusia’s regional leader Juan Manuel Moreno said. Some 150 firefighters and 220 soldiers from Spain’s military emergency unit were battling the blaze, which has consumed more than 3,200 hectares of forest and farmland.

Regional emergency authorities said four British nationals and other unspecified foreign nationals appeared to be among the dead.

Victims attempted to flee on foot and by car

The fire broke out in a hamlet in a semi-arid area near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains. Authorities have not confirmed the cause, but said people who called to report the fire said that a fallen power line had sparked a blaze that spread rapidly into a nearby forest.

Most of the victims died while attempting to flee and ignored shelter-in-place instructions, said Antonio Sanz, president of Andalusia’s emergency services. One group did so via a dry riverbed, which “turned into a death trap,” he said.

Seven people died while on foot after abandoning their cars, Mr. Sanz said, likely looking for a way out.

“The consequences have been terrible. Everything seems to indicate that, in the case of the deceased … we are dealing for the most part, if not entirely, with foreign nationals,” Mr. Sanz said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences. “Immense sadness and desolation in the face of the terrible consequences of the fire affecting the province of Almeria,” he wrote on X.

Europe battles intense heat again

Spain has battled frequent and severe heat waves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. Wind, high temperatures and little rainfall help small wildfires grow into unchecked blazes.

In June, Spain experienced several days of record-setting heat, with over 1,000 excess deaths attributed to heat.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Parts of Western Europe are facing their third heat wave in six weeks. Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing several intense heat waves across Europe.

France is experiencing the peak of its third heatwave of the summer, with temperatures reaching 40° Celsius across western and central areas and around 37° Celsius in Paris.

French authorities have also warned of a very high wildfire risk, as large fires in the south have already scorched thousands of hectares this week, disrupted the Tour de France cycling race and stretching firefighting resources.

The largest wildfire, which broke out in the eastern Pyrenees, near the Spanish border, has decreased in intensity, authorities said Friday.

It burned about 5,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people from nearly villages, who have since been allowed to return home.

Last month was France’s hottest June on record, with deaths surging by nearly a third during the hottest week.

Scientists warn that climate change caused in part by the burning of fuels like gasoline, oil and coal is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making certain regions more vulnerable to wildfires.

Spain and Portugal have faced deadly fires before

Spain is no stranger to wildfires, with last year’s fire season burning more than 3,93,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, an area twice as large as London. Four people died.

In 2017, a wildfire in neighbouring Portugal left 66 people dead in Pedrogao Grande, located 200 kilometres northeast of Lisbon.

In that blaze, 47 people died on one road while similarly attempting to flee in their cars.

Published – July 10, 2026 06:58 pm IST