A new report by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has found that 2025 was one of the ten driest years ever recorded in northwestern and central Europe, driving continent-wide heatwaves, record wildfires, and deadly storms. A July heatwave lasting 25 days — particularly severe in Scandinavia — contributed to the largest total area ever burned across Europe in a single year, with Spain alone accounting for half of all wildfire emissions; a fire near Zamora (a province in northwestern Spain) scorched over 40,000 hectares, the country's biggest since records began in 1968. The report also notes that storms and floods affected an estimated 14,500 people across the continent, killing at least 21, and warns that Europe remains the world's fastest-warming continent, with record sea surface temperatures further intensifying both heatwaves and extreme rainfall events.