More than 650,000 hectares of forest burned in Europe during the summer of 2026.

Omissions

• EFFIS's headline indicator is total burnt area, which includes non-forest land cover; it is not a strictly 'forest-only' statistic.
• The 678,978 ha figure is for the 2026 fire season to date (as of 23 September 2026), not only for the meteorological summer (June-August).
• The primary JRC/EFFIS page reports the EU aggregate; the claim says 'Europe', which is a broader scope than the EU (so the EU figure is a conservative floor).
• Some secondary outlets cited an earlier EFFIS year-to-date snapshot of about 646,628 ha (just below the claimed 650,000 ha), showing the figure varies with the snapshot date.
• The primary JRC data (as of 23 September 2026) were published after the 16 September 2026 session date; the figure the MEP could have known on 16 September would have been marginally lower.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission – Joint Research Centre (EFFIS/Copernicus): Current wildfire situation in EuropeAs of 23 September 2026, the area affected by fires has reached 678 978 hectares. This is below the area recorded by the same date in 2025 (the worst year on record) but exceeds the long-term average of the last 20 years (2006-2025) of 355 397 ha.
• SecondaryNews Minimalist – Wildfires burn 650,000 hectares across Europe in severe 2026 seasonEurope has seen nearly 650,000 hectares burned by wildfires since January 2026... According to the European EFFIS system, 646,628 hectares have burned in the EU, more than double the 20-year average for this period, though below 2025's record of nearly one million hectares.
• SecondaryUpday – 1.2 million hectares burned: EU map reveals devastating surge in summer wildfiresIn 2026, more than 1,913 large wildfires have burned nearly 650,000 hectares across the European Union since the start of the year.