Early wildfires and volcanic ash disrupt European travel
A record early-summer heatwave has ignited wildfires across southern Europe and closed Sicily's main airport, threatening the crucial summer tourism season and straining emergency resources.
A persistent heat dome has triggered a wave of natural disasters across the continent, closing Sicily's primary transport hub and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. More than 19,000 hectares of land—an area twice the size of Manhattan—have burned across Portugal, Spain, France, and Greece, with authorities warning that the annual wildfire season has started a month early.
Mount Etna erupted for the ninth consecutive day on Sunday, ejecting a large ash cloud that forced Italian carrier ITA to cancel flights to and from Catania until Monday afternoon. Incoming aircraft were diverted to Palermo, adding to airspace bottlenecks that recently caused more than 3,000 flight delays in a single day across European airspace.
In southwestern France, a rapidly spreading fire near Perpignan has devoured 4,600 hectares and injured two people, forcing the unprecedented cancellation of spectators for Monday's third stage of the Tour de France. Regional prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe announced the Pyrenees stage would be limited to riders and essential vehicles, stating plainly: "In other words, and I regret having to say this, it will be, in France at least, a stage of the Tour de France without spectators."
Spain has evacuated or ordered indoors nearly 50,000 people near the Costa Brava after a fire burned 2,200 hectares in two days, with police detaining a man on suspicion of accidentally starting the blaze with an angle grinder. In Portugal, emergency services have controlled 80 percent of a wildfire that destroyed 13,000 hectares in the north, while the government issued red-level heat alerts for nine districts including Lisbon.
Industrial infrastructure also took a hit in Greece, where a fire tore through two factories in Thessaloniki and forced the evacuation of a facility housing 157 people with special needs. Fire department spokesperson Brig. Ioannis Artopoios noted that 85 percent of Greek wildfires are caused by negligence, stating: "This means most of them could have been avoided."
The widespread disruptions follow a June heatwave that scientists with the World Weather Attribution group said would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change. French fire service Colonel Eric Belgioino captured the growing operational toll on public resources, warning: "Climate change is here, we are living the consequences and it is only the start of July."
