Record-breaking heat has swept across Europe in August 2025, shattering temperature records, fueling devastating wildfires, and forcing thousands to flee their homes. From Spain and Portugal to Turkey, Greece, and as far north as Britain and the Arctic Circle, millions are enduring a new climate reality: extreme heatwaves that are longer, more frequent, and more intense than ever before.
According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe is now the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating up at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s. This rapid warming is not just a statistic — it’s a lived experience for millions this summer. The agency reports that last year was the hottest on record both in Europe and globally, and 2025 is on track to continue that trend.
The consequences have been dire. In Spain, a wildfire broke out near Madrid on the night of August 11, 2025. Firefighters, joined by nearly 1,000 soldiers, managed to contain the blaze by the following day, but not before it claimed the life of a man who suffered burns to 98% of his body. The fires didn’t stop there. Regions including Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia, and Galicia all saw flames, forcing thousands — including holiday-goers at southern beaches — to evacuate. Some evacuees were allowed to return to their hotels by Tuesday afternoon, providing a brief respite from the chaos, according to the Associated Press.
Portugal, too, has been hit hard. Over 700 firefighters battled a major fire in the municipality of Trancoso, about 350 kilometers northeast of Lisbon, with smaller blazes igniting further north. Wildfires have also been reported in Croatia, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, and the United Kingdom, as noted by CNBC and multiple European news agencies.
In Turkey’s Canakkale province, a wildfire that began on agricultural land quickly spread to forested and residential areas, fanned by strong winds. The blaze forced the evacuation of 2,000 people — some by sea — and led to 77 hospitalizations due to smoke exposure. While officials managed to bring the fire largely under control by August 12, two other wildfires continued to burn in Manisa and Izmir provinces, according to Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli.
France has not been spared. The national weather authority, Météo France, placed most of the southern region under its highest heat warning, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for the second consecutive day. The heat was forecast to spread northeast, including the Paris region. Municipalities responded by offering free or discounted access to public swimming pools, and most of central and southern France remained on high alert for forest fires after a deadly blaze last week in the Aude region. The fire there, though under control, is expected to smolder for weeks, with hot spots at risk of reigniting.
The numbers are staggering. On Monday, August 11, 2025, temperature records were broken in French cities including Angoulême, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion, and Saint-Girons. Météo France reported that maximum temperatures were up to 12 degrees Celsius above normal levels, and 40% of sampled weather stations in southwestern France recorded temperatures above 40°C. "Often remarkable, even unprecedented maximum temperatures, often 12 degrees above normal levels, were reached this Monday," Météo France stated in a press release, as cited by CNBC.
Croatia, a popular tourist destination, saw temperatures climb to 39.5 degrees Celsius in Šibenik and 38.9 degrees Celsius in Dubrovnik. Large forest fires raged along the Adriatic coast and swept through neighboring Balkan countries. The heatwave’s main characteristic, according to José Camacho of Spain’s weather agency Aemet, is not just its intensity but its length and geographic extent. "The main characteristic [of the heat wave] is the length and extent, not the intensity. But the temperatures are still very high," Camacho explained to The Guardian.
Greece faced seven major wildfires, mostly in the west, which forced multiple evacuations and destroyed homes and businesses. Flames reached the outskirts of Patras, the country’s third largest city, threatening an industrial area. High winds hindered firefighting efforts on the islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia, with evacuation plans on standby for tourist resorts. Over 20 mobile phone alerts with evacuation orders and guidance were issued nationwide in Greece on August 12, 2025.
Britain, too, braced for another heatwave, expecting temperatures to hit 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 Fahrenheit) on August 12 and 13, especially in southern England including London. Officials there define a heatwave as three consecutive days above 25 degrees Celsius for most of the country, or 28 degrees in London and its surroundings.
These extreme events are not isolated. According to France 24, the number and severity of heatwaves in Europe have surged over recent decades. Of the 50 heatwaves recorded in France since 1947, 33 have occurred since 2000. A 2025 academic study in the journal Weather and Climate Extremes found a "significant upward trend in heat wave occurrences across most European regions, with a notable surge in the last three decades."
The record-breaking temperatures are not limited to 2025. In recent years, Europe has seen its absolute temperature records shattered: 48.8°C in Syracuse, Italy in August 2021 (the highest ever recorded in Europe), 46°C in France in June 2019, 47.3°C in Portugal in August 2003, 47.4°C in Spain in August 2021, 41.2°C in Germany in July 2019, and 40.3°C in Britain in July 2022, according to Copernicus and France 24.
Scientists universally agree that climate change, driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas, is the main culprit behind these intensifying heatwaves. The heat traps greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, making Europe more vulnerable to both extreme heat and wildfires. As Lauriane Batté, a climate scientist at Météo France, put it: "It is clear that it is a sign that the climate is warming."
The human toll is profound. The infamous 2003 Western Europe heatwave caused over 70,000 deaths across 16 countries. In 2010, a heatwave in Russia resulted in 56,000 excess deaths. More recently, the summer of 2022 saw approximately 60,000 heat-related deaths across 35 European countries. Researchers estimate that dangerous temperatures could result in 8,000 to 80,000 additional deaths per year in Europe by the end of the century, as noted by Antonio Gasparrini of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Fires have already burned more than 400,000 hectares across Europe this year — 87% more than the average for this time of year over the past two decades. The World Meteorological Organization warns that fires and poor air quality are compounding the negative health effects of extreme heat, making effective and diverse public health measures more critical than ever.
As Europe swelters under this relentless heat, one thing is clear: the continent is on the frontline of climate change. The events of August 2025 are a stark reminder that adaptation and urgent action are no longer optional — they are a necessity for survival in a rapidly warming world.
