(MENAFN) Europe has endured its "worst" wildfire season ever recorded in 2025, according to preliminary estimates by the European Forest Fire Information Service (EFFIS), underscoring a rising pattern of longer and more damaging fire seasons across the continent.

Data from EFFIS reveal that wildfires are occurring with greater frequency and severity throughout Europe. Early numbers for 2025 indicate that the total area affected will exceed all previous records since EFFIS started compiling data in 2006.

These initial figures for 2025 follow the 2024 Forest Fires Report from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), which documented 383,317 hectares burned in Europe.

Although this was lower than the 500,000 hectares affected in 2023 due to intermittent rainfall, it still surpassed the 17-year average of 354,185 hectares.

In total, 8,343 fires were reported in 2024, more than quadrupling the long-term average.

Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain were the most severely impacted EU member states, collectively accounting for 334,940 hectares of burned land.

Among non-EU countries participating in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Türkiye, and Ukraine experienced substantial damage.

Ukraine alone accounted for half of the total burnt area among UCPM nations, with many fires igniting along active conflict zones.

Information from EFFIS highlights that Europe’s wildfire trends are shifting rapidly, reflecting increasingly destructive and frequent fire events across the continent.

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