Climate crisis intensified Europe's wildfire weather by up to 20 times: Study

Human-caused climate change made the hot, dry and windy conditions that fuelled devastating wildfires in Spain at least 20 times more likely and twice as likely in France, according to a new scientific analysis by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) consortium.

The study found that global heating significantly increased the likelihood of the extreme wildfire weather that has contributed to widespread destruction across western Europe this summer.

Researchers analysed "daily severity ratings" (DSR), a measure of how severe a wildfire could become if ignited, during the worst seven-day period in each country. They compared present-day conditions with those in a pre-industrial climate before large-scale fossil fuel use raised global temperatures by around 1.4 degrees Celsius.

Scientists said the findings add to growing evidence linking Europe's increasingly destructive summers to climate change driven by the burning of coal, oil and gas.

The report noted that an earlier WWA analysis found the late June heatwave, estimated to have caused around 20,000 deaths, would not have occurred without human-induced global warming.

Another study concluded that climate change was intensifying drought across Europe by drying out soils.

The current wildfire season has also been amplified by so-called "weather whiplash", with a wet winter and spring encouraging vegetation growth that later dried out during extreme heat, providing abundant fuel for fires.

Dr Clair Barnes of Imperial College London, a member of the WWA research team, described the findings as "extremely scary", noting that the fires erupted unusually early in the season.

"We've seen repeatedly how climate change increases hot, dry, flammable conditions that are extremely conducive to wildfires," she said, warning that another heatwave could further worsen the situation.

Wildfires have burned across Spain and France since early July, killing people, destroying thousands of homes and forcing more than 300,000 people to evacuate.

The fires have also generated massive plumes of smoke, severely degrading air quality. Researchers said smoke pollution reached levels up to 20 times higher than what is considered "fair" air quality in parts of France, with its effects felt hundreds of kilometres away.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell said the fires demonstrated how rapidly climate-driven heat and dry landscapes can turn wildfires into national disasters, urging countries to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and strengthen measures to protect communities from worsening climate impacts.