EU sends assistance to Belgium and Spain as they battle wildfires
The European Commission has deployed assistance to Belgium and Spain as part of the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.
Two Swedish planes from the EU’s firefighting fleet were dispatched to Belgium, alongside two helicopters each from the Netherlands, Norway and Germany, the executive arm of the bloc said.
Over in Spain, 104 ground firefighters and 36 vehicles from France joined local efforts to fight various blazes.
The EU is also continuing to support emergency efforts with satellite mapping through its Copernicus service.
Key events
Closing summary
Jakub Krupa
And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today.
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French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu was booed on arrival to Le Porge, one of the towns most affected by the massive wildfire in the Gironde region last month (10:50), before unveiling his government’s plans to support the communities affected by the blaze, including €12m in aid (14:09).
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Lecornu also strongly pushed back against conspiracy theories and criticism of the firefighting efforts in the area (12:12), and warned about the climate-related risk of floods this autumn and winter (14:42).
Meanwhile,
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Belgian firefighters were locked in fight against a blaze in the eastern part of the country on the border with Germany, successfully “limiting” its spread (11:25, 12:44, 16:21) as they called for more resources and international support (11:48, 13:04) on the day of King Philippe’s visit to the coordination centre (13:10).
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Over in Greece, firefighters fought back against local fires, eagerly awaiting the expected improvement in weather conditions in Tuesday after a bruising weekend of large blazes (10:26, 13:55, 17:02).
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Greece to see wildfire risk level downgraded after weeks of fires
Meanwhile, Greek authorities say the country could see an improvement in weather conditions on Tuesday, allowing the wildfire risk to be downgraded to level 2 out of 5, local daily Kathimerini reported.
Parts of Attica, including Athens, as well as central Greece and the northern Peloponnese will remain at level 3.
The forecast offers a welcome respite after a series of extreme wildfires that have claimed seven lives in recent weeks.
Over in Belgium, firefighters are struggling to bring the fire under control due to difficulties accessing the terrain, local media reported.
Broadcaster VRT reported that tackling the blaze is particularly difficult in peatland areas, where heavy equipment cannot easily reach, leaving emergency crews with no choice but to deploy aerial support.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on X that “Europe’s solidarity is in full flight,” with several teams deployed to the countries most affected by wildfires. “We keep a close eye on developments,” she said.
Challenges posed by wildfires ‘becoming more frequent,’ UK housing secretary warns
Speaking during her visit, Rayner told reporters that the challenges posed by wildfires are “becoming more frequent.”
She said:
“We’re seeing a pattern here with the wildfires. We’re seeing a pattern with climate.”
Meanwhile in the UK, the housing secretary Angela Rayner has visited the burnt-out remains of homes in the West Midlands gutted by a wildfire last week.
She could be seen walking among the shells of properties at Stourbridge following the huge blaze which destroyed 19 homes.
Residents evacuated from their homes in the area have been allowed to return to view their properties, an update from the local council said yesterday.
There have been cooler temperatures in the UK on Monday following the country’s fifth heatwave of the summer which saw temperatures of 38C last week.
The country’s forecaster, the Met Office, said heavy showers are expected to hit the UK on Thursday, missing some areas but bringing the chance of surface flooding in places where rainfall is particularly intense, it added.
France’s Lecornu joins Britain’s Burnham in warnings about potential floods this autumn, winter
Speaking in Gironde, Lecornu also warned about the prospect of floods this autumn and winter as an indirect result of the impact of the devastating wildfires this summer.
“Our disaster can herald another,” he said in comments reported by BFMTV, stressing he asked the authorities to work on these issues.
It’s not the first time a senior politician draws a link between wildfires and floods: Britain’s prime minister Andy Burnham also made the link in his speech last Friday.
He said experts had warned the UK could face a wet autumn and winter because of the El Niño effect “so, after fire could come floods”.
French PM pledges help with rehousing, reconstruction, tax reliefs in areas affected by wildfires
I’m still following the French PM Sébastien Lecornu’s visit to regions hit by last month’s wildfires in France.
Speaking at a press conference in Gironde, Lecornu promised the French state would work on rehousing those affected and fast-track planning permissions to allow for the quickest possible reconstruction of properties damaged by last month’s major wildfires.
He said the government would step in to help residents get payouts from insurance companies and target firms deliberately stalling on claims.
The PM also promised €12m in immediate aid for Gironde and Landes – the two departments hardest hit by the blazes – alongside tax and social contributions relief for affected businesses.
Greece tackles new wildfires, examines burned area on Salamis island
Meanwhile, new wildfires broke out in Greece on Monday, AP reported.
Dozens of firefighters along with two water-dropping planes and two helicopters raced to tackle one in Spata, an area east of Athens that includes the main international airport.
A separate fire was also spotted in the Argithea area of Koropi in the east Attica region. The fire services said the blazes were quickly contained.
Separately, the authorities were examining a burned area on the island of Salamis, after two people died and nine were injured in a major wildfire over the weekend.
Belgium’s King visits emergency centre coordinating fight against wildfires
As flagged earlier, Belgium’s King Philippe is now visiting the emergency coordination centre looking after the firefighters tackling the major fire in the eastern part of the country (9:39).
EU sends assistance to Belgium and Spain as they battle wildfires
The European Commission has deployed assistance to Belgium and Spain as part of the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.
Two Swedish planes from the EU’s firefighting fleet were dispatched to Belgium, alongside two helicopters each from the Netherlands, Norway and Germany, the executive arm of the bloc said.
Over in Spain, 104 ground firefighters and 36 vehicles from France joined local efforts to fight various blazes.
The EU is also continuing to support emergency efforts with satellite mapping through its Copernicus service.
‘Limited’ spread in major wildfire in Belgium as winds, rainfall help firefighters
Back to Belgium, a Monday morning update from the local governor’s office said “the fire’s spread remained limited thanks to more favourable winds and rainfall recorded late overnight.”
“Major aerial resources are due to reinforce crews on the ground throughout the day,” it said, with helicopters from Norway and Germany joining the fleet of aircraft hauling water to hard-to-reach areas.
On-site operations have been made much harder by the fens’ terrain – a patchwork of heath, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks where heavy vehicles risk sinking into the ground – and firefighters struggle to tackle the fire at close range, AFP noted.
French PM rejects ‘conspiracy’ theories about battling wildfires
We are now getting a bit more detail on Sébastien Lecornu’s visit to the wildfires-hit region of France, after he was booed by local residents in Le Porge earlier today (10:50).
“It would have been the least he could do” for the prime minister to meet the residents, said Tony Veiga, a 65-year-old pensioner, told AFP. “It really amounts to treating us as if we don’t matter.”
Lecornu’s office said he had spoken with affected residents and farmers.
“We have absolutely nothing to hide regarding how fire protection operations have been conducted over the past few weeks,” Lecornu said as he met local officials in the nearby town of Mérignac after leaving Le Porge.
AFP said there is anger in the region among some residents who allege authorities prioritised fighting fires in the upscale Cap-Ferret peninsula – where many affluent Parisians take holidays – over protecting homes of local residents.
But Lecornu insisted that all key calls were made locally, with “very, very decentralised tactical approach to decision-making,” as he criticised “conspiracy” theories spread in the aftermath of the fire, Le Figaro reported.
Head of Belgian firefighters call for more resources, greater air fleet integration
Meanwhile, the head of the Belgian firefighters, Marc Gilbert, told Belgian media that the country needed more resources to be ready to fight major fires.
In comments reported by VRT and Nieuwsblad, he called for urgent recruitment to the service and for greater integration of firefighting fleet across the EU.
Rain aids fight against Belgium’s biggest wildfire
In Belgium, weather agency IRM said between 5 and 9 millimetres (0.2 to 0.35 inches) of rain was forecast on Monday in the High Fens, a nature reserve in the east of the country which has been burning since Friday, Reuters reported.
The local temperature was set to fall to about 20 degrees Celsius, having breached 30C last week in a heatwave that saw parts of Belgium hit temperatures of 37 C.
“This will change everything; in addition to the water associated with rainfall, there will also be an increase in humidity levels,” fire department captain Olivier Guist told Belgian radio station RTBF.
French PM booed on visit to wildfires affected region
Over in France, prime minister Sébastien Lecornu was booed on arrival to Le Porge, one of the towns most affected by the massive wildfire in the Gironde region last month.
Lecornu was set to meet with the local officials to discuss the reconstruction of the region, but a clip published by BFMTV showed a group of frustrated local residents booing his arrival.
He later left Le Porge without freely talking to residents, BFMTV noted, with some locals calling it “disrespectful” as the put out an empty chair as a symbol of his absence.
But the French PM did speak to a selected group of representatives from the area, the broadcaster noted, before leaving for Mérignac for further talks.
Greek island wildfire ‘largely extinguished’ after claiming two lives
Two fires on the Greek island of Salamis near Athens that claimed two lives and led to the evacuation of nearly 600 people have been largely extinguished, the fire service said this morning, via AFP.
“The situation is better, there is no active front,” a fire department spokesman told AFP, adding that two helicopters and over 200 firefighters remained in the area.
The fires broke out Sunday near packed beaches in the south and east of the island just west of Athens that is popular with day travellers. The evacuations were carried out by boat.
Wildfires kill two in Greece and torch Belgian nature reserve
Angela Giuffrida
An elderly couple died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis on Sunday and Belgium is battling its largest modern-day wildfire at an inaccessible area near Germany, in the latest wave of European wildfires.
The couple died outside their home in the Peristeria beach area of Salamis, Greece’s coastguard said. More than 500 people were ordered to evacuate.
In Spain, a soldier died on Sunday while helping efforts to extinguish a large wildfire in Aragon, authorities said. French reinforcements were due to help contain the wildfire in the north-eastern region, which has raged for a week and threatened a 1,000-year-old monastery.
In Portugal, hundreds of firefighters were battling a series of blazes. At a wildfire near Dine, a village close to the border with Spain, five firefighters were injured when their vehicle caught fire, local media reported. Other fires were burning near the Spanish border, including at Boticas and Chavez.
Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather around the world, driving more frequent and deadlier disasters from heatwaves to floods to wildfires.
Much of Europe is experiencing a new period of intense heat, creating conditions conducive to wildfire outbreaks.
On Friday a fire engulfed homes in a Croatian holiday resort, killing one person, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 to evacuate, officials said, as the EU warned that pockets of “very extreme” wildfire conditions stretched across the continent.
Hundreds more people were evacuated from villages in western Germany and south-west France, while stranded holidaymakers were picked up from beaches threatened by flames in Greece and the army rescued historical relics in Spain.
Morning opening: Wildfires rage in Belgium, France, Greece
Jakub Krupa
Belgium’s King Philippe will visit the area affected by what is believed to be the largest wildfire in the country’s history this morning, after a weekend of intense firefighting in the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve.
The fire has been raging since Friday afternoon, burning more than 3,000 hectares of land, provisional figures show.
Over the weekend, the blaze crept closer to the German border, prompting the precautionary evacuation of parts of the town of Monschau.
As of Monday morning, light rain helped to stop the spread of the fire east towards Germany, but the blaze continued to grow in the north-eastern direction, local media reported.
Belgian newspaper Le Soir warned: “This is no longer just a warning,” lamenting the severe impact of the summer heatwave and the mounting losses.
Over the weekend, large wildfires were also reported in France and Greece.
I will bring you all the updates during the day.
It’s Monday, 17 August 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
