Wildfires rage across Europe, killing at least one in Croatia and prompting mass arrests in France

Aug 14, 2026

Raging wildfires sweep across Europe in August 2026, fueled by a record-breaking heatwave and extreme drought. In Croatia, a severe coastal blaze kills one person and injures 40 others near Omiš. France detains 474 people, including 183 minors, on suspicion of arson since July. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom issues nationwide emergency alerts and bans disposable barbecues as fires destroy homes in the West Midlands, and thousands evacuate across Germany, Spain, and Greece.

European wildfire outbreaks

▪A forest fire threatened the popular beach resorts of Siviri and Fourka on the Halkidiki peninsula in northern Greece on August 13, 2026, creating a two-mile-long fire front.
▪Wildfires raged across multiple European countries in August 2026, including Croatia, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, and the United Kingdom, amid extreme heat and dry conditions.
▪A wildfire in the Hürtgen forest in western Germany near the Belgian border threatened the village of Gey on August 14, 2026, with firefighting efforts hampered by exploding World War II munitions.
▪A wildfire in the province of Huelva in southern Spain burned 31,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of approximately 700 people by August 14, 2026.
▪A wildfire near the San Juan de la Peña monastery in Aragón, Spain, burned over 9,000 hectares by August 14, 2026, prompting an army unit to rescue 11th-century royal remains.

Record-breaking heatwave conditions

▪Approximately 150 million people across Europe experienced temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius or higher on August 14, 2026.
▪A severe wildfire that broke out near Lokva Rogoznica on August 13, 2026, killed at least one person whose body was found in a burnt-out area on August 14, 2026.
▪Temperatures in western Europe on August 14, 2026, averaged 31.2 degrees Celsius, which is 8 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 historical norm.

Wildfire casualties in Croatia

▪Croatian authorities evacuated approximately 1,200 residents and tourists from the coastal town of Omiš and surrounding areas as wildfires spread on August 13 and 14, 2026.
▪The August 2026 wildfire along Croatia's Dalmatian coast injured approximately 40 people, with 10 to 14 individuals admitted to hospitals in Split, including several with life-threatening injuries.

Mass evacuations across Europe

▪Emergency crews evacuated hundreds of holidaymakers by boat from beaches in Siviri and Agios Vasileios, Greece, as wildfires threatened coastal resorts in August 2026.
▪French authorities evacuated more than 525 people from the village of Luglon in the Landes region on August 14, 2026, as a new wildfire consumed 1,100 hectares of pine forest.
▪France's interior ministry announced that 474 people, including 183 minors, had been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires since July 1, 2026.
▪More than 2,000 residents were evacuated from the village of Gey in western Germany on August 14, 2026, taking shelter in a nearby primary school due to the Hürtgen forest fire.

France arson arrests

▪The United Kingdom government imposed a temporary nationwide ban on the sale of disposable barbecues on August 14, 2026, to mitigate extreme wildfire risks.
▪French authorities detained a 15-year-old boy in connection with a July 2026 wildfire near Bordeaux airport that killed two firefighters.
▪Approximately 70 percent of the 474 individuals arrested in France since July 1, 2026, were suspected of deliberately starting wildfires, while the remaining 30 percent were suspected of accidental arson.

UK emergency wildfire measures

▪National Fire Chiefs Council chair Phil Garrigan reported that the United Kingdom declared 11 major wildfire incidents within a 24-hour period ending August 14, 2026.
▪Emergency services sent a nationwide wildfire alert to mobile phones across England and Wales on August 14, 2026, warning of a "very high risk" of blazes.
▪Wildfires in the West Midlands region of England destroyed multiple homes in Stourbridge and Stoke-on-Trent in August 2026.