Study

Wildfires in Spain are 20 times more likely due to climate change

This is the finding of a new analysis carried out by World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international scientific collaboration.

31 July 2026

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epa13141103 Una foto fornita dalla Guardia Civil spagnola mostra alcuni agenti della Guardia Civil che bloccano una strada durante un incendio boschivo a Fermoselle, Zamora, Spagna, il 30 luglio 2026. EPA/GUARDIA CIVILE SPAGNOLA / FOTO FORNITA DA TERZI - ATTRIBUZIONE OBBLIGATORIA - SOLO PER USO EDITORIALE / NON DESTINATA ALLA VENDITA EPA

1' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

1' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Human-induced climate change has made the extreme weather conditions that fuelled the recent devastating forest fires at least twice as likely in France and at least 20 times as likely in Spain.

This is the finding of a new analysis carried out by World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international scientific collaboration.

Since the beginning of July, violent forest fires have ravaged France and Spain.

The fires have been described as being among the worst ever recorded in the two countries.

In recent weeks, the Wwa has published a number of analyses showing that both the June heatwaves and the drought currently affecting Europe have been fuelled by human-induced climate change.

In September 2025, the team also found that climate change had exacerbated the forest fires of the previous year in Spain and Portugal. Another analysis of the 2025 fire season reached similar conclusions.

The researchers then assessed the role of climate change in fire-prone weather conditions using an ultra-rapid protocol.

They analysed historical weather records – but not climate models – to investigate how the weather conditions that favour wildfires have changed over time.

To this end, they used an indicator known as the Daily Severity Rating (DSR), which takes into account heat, drought and wind conditions and reflects the difficulty of bringing a fire under control once it has broken out.

The researchers examined the seven-day period with the highest DSR in south-western France and in central Spain, where the fires occurred.

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Wildfires in Spain are 20 times more likely due to climate change

This is the finding of a new analysis carried out by World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international scientific collaboration.

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I prossimi eventi

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