Wildfires ravaged large swathes of land across Ukraine and the Balkans in 2024, with Ukraine suffering the highest recorded damage of any country in the region, according to a report from the European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

The total burnt area across the European Union reached 419,298 hectares (ha), slightly above the average recorded between 2006 and 2023. However, the report highlighted that many of the largest and most destructive wildfires occurred in the Balkans and in Ukraine, where the war with Russia has exacerbated the crisis, said the "Advance report on Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2024". 

Ukraine experienced an unprecedented wildfire season, with a total burnt area of 965,360 ha — more than the entire area affected in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in 2023 combined. "The majority of the damage occurred in the east of the country near the frontline of hostilities," the report said.

A total of 8,753 fires were mapped in Ukraine, including 317 large-scale blazes exceeding 500 ha, and 110 surpassing 1,000 ha. The two largest fires each burned more than 8,000 ha. The combination of high temperatures and combat-related ignitions contributed to the extensive damage. The report also noted that the Fire Weather Index remained dangerously high throughout the summer months.

Several countries in the Balkans reported their most severe wildfire seasons in recent history. Bulgaria saw its largest burnt area in more than a decade, with 45,435 ha affected by 256 fires. The vast majority of the damage occurred in July when the largest fires of the year were mapped, the EU report said. 

Albania also suffered its worst fire season in six years, with 49,189 ha burnt across 453 fires. One of the largest blazes, covering over 4,000 ha, broke out in the Dropull i Poshtëm region in July. Serbia faced its worst wildfire season since EFFIS began monitoring, recording 43,004 ha burnt in 584 events, far exceeding the country’s annual average of 5,847 ha. The largest Serbian wildfire, in the Pirotski region, spanned 5,274 ha, making it the second-largest blaze in the country’s recorded history.

North Macedonia endured its worst wildfire season in over a decade, with 97,660 ha burnt in 250 fires — exceeding the total recorded for the previous six years combined. "The fire season was short but intense, running from July to September, when some of the largest fires mapped by EFFIS in 2024 occurred," the report said.

Wildfires also impacted Romania, where 43,003 ha were burned — three times the amount recorded in 2023. Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia all reported increased wildfire activity compared to previous years.

While the overall wildfire trends in spring and summer 2024 were close to average, due to intermittent rainfall across the Mediterranean, a late-season outbreak in Portugal in September resulted in over 100,000 ha burned within a single week. Portugal and Bulgaria together accounted for nearly half of all damage to Natura 2000 protected sites, which saw a total of 147,017 ha burned across the EU.

Turkey experienced its third-worst wildfire season since EFFIS monitoring began, with 131,223 ha burned from 1,663 fires — more than double the long-term average. The largest ten fires each exceeded 1,000 ha, with the biggest one consuming over 7,000 ha. Four of these major events occurred in Mardin province.

By contrast, North Africa and the Middle East recorded one of their lowest burnt areas ever at approximately 72,500 ha, significantly below the regional average of 115,000 ha.