Rainfall aids fight against Belgium's biggest wildfire, as blazes rip through Europe

Rain over eastern Belgium on Monday morning provided much-needed moisture for firefighters battling the country's biggest wildfire on record, which had threatened to reach the German border. The summer of 2022 saw numerous wildfires ravage Europe after prolonged heatwaves, exacerbated by climate change, intensified drought and left vegetation highly flammable.

As of now, 576,000 hectares (2,225 square miles) have burned across Europe, an area twice the size of Luxembourg. This summer, the European Forest Fire Information System recorded over 90% of wildfires were sparked by human activities, such as campfires or discarded cigarettes.

Tragically, an elderly couple perished in the Greek island of Salamina when wildfires swept through residential areas, forcing 500 people to evacuate via ferry amid gale force winds pushing the fire towards homes. In Aragon, northeastern Spain, a blaze destroyed 16,600 hectares, while in Croatia's tourist town of Omis, 1,000 residents were evacuated due to a fire.

In Belgium, the meteorological agency IRM forecasted between five and nine millimetres of rain in the High Fens, a nature reserve in the east of the country, which had been burning since Friday. The local temperature was expected to drop to around 20 degrees Celsius, after briefly surging above 30C last week during a heatwave that saw parts of Belgium reach 37C.

Despite the cooler temperatures and rainfall, large portions of western, southern, and central Europe remained at high risk of wildfires on Monday, according to EFFIS data. Extreme fire risk has become increasingly common during European summers due to hotter, drier weather conditions caused by climate change, combined with factors like rural abandonment, which has left land untended and allowed flammable, dry vegetation to accumulate in forests.

Belgian officials confirmed that the blaze in the High Fens was no longer spreading towards Germany and was partly contained. Firefighters from across Belgium, as well as neighbouring Germany and Luxembourg, alongside farmers and the army, have been working tirelessly to combat the fire. The fire has already scorched about 3,000 hectares in the unique nature reserve of moorland, peat, and woods, surpassing Belgium's previous record-breaking fire in 2011, which burned close to 1,400 hectares.

The European Union has deployed three helicopters and two water-bombing aircraft from various European countries since Saturday, upon Belgium's request for emergency reinforcements.