EU warns of "very extreme" wildfire conditions as fires strike Greece, Croatia, and Belgium simultaneously

The EU has warned that pockets of "very extreme" wildfire conditions stretch across Europe. On 16 August 2026, two people died in fires on Greece's Salamis island; a Croatian resort fire killed one and injured 40 on 15 August. Belgium's High Fens, a peat bog that last burned comparably in 1911, saw its largest modern fire, triggering Swedish aircraft and Dutch helicopters.