Spain and France grapple with record wildfires fueled by climate change

Wildfires have ripped through southern Europe, especially Spain and France, in an unusually early and intense season. Experts say rising temperatures and prolonged drought, amplified by climate‑change‑driven "weather whiplash," have dried soils and created abundant fuel on hillsides where traditional grazing has declined. Dr Thomas Smith of the London School of Economics warned that the loss of pastoral land has turned the landscape into a "tinderbox," while Dr Clair Barnes of Imperial College London called the situation "extremely scary" and noted smoke pollution reaching levels up to 20 times the normal fair‑air standard.

The blazes have killed people, destroyed thousands of homes and forced more than 300,000 residents to evacuate. Massive smoke plumes have degraded air quality across the region, prompting UN climate chief Simon Stiell to urge faster fossil‑fuel transition and stronger community protection measures.