Southern Europe Wildfire Event Report

Key takeaways

• Ongoing dry conditions and high temperatures have led to wildfire weather conditions, with several wildfires spreading across southern Europe including France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
•  In Spain, more than 900 square kilometres (90,000 hectares) have burnt during July (more than the size of the central city of Madrid), and in France more than 500 square kilometres (50,000 hectares, more than four times the size of the central city of Paris).
• Several fires have been exceptionally large and destructive, including major events in Ávila, Girona/Gironde, Landes, Var, and Seine-et-Marne.
• So far, most of the burnt areas have been in rural regions with limited property insurance impacts, although hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from homes as a safety precaution. However, should the fires penetrate further into urban areas, for example in Bordeaux and Madrid, property damage could become significant.
• Key loss drivers are expected to include crop and vineyard damage, smoke exposure, evacuation costs, business interruption, and transport disruption.
• Property damage and loss estimates are ongoing, with further future wildfires possible.