EU researchers, firefighters and communities are pioneering innovative, collaborative approaches to build landscapes able to withstand increasingly extreme wildfires.

On July 24, 2025, wildfires continued burning near Palermo, Sicily, amid extreme European heat. Fire crews have battled the blaze since the previous night as it threatens nearby communities. The continent remains on high alert as record-breaking heat fuels widespread fire outbreaks.

Heatwave temperatures, drought and decades of poor forest management are producing an extreme wildfire season across Europe into July.

Local reports say the bodies, which are yet to be identified, belong to an elderly couple in the village of Malia, in the Limassol district.

The forest fire that started yesterday evening in Pioppo near the city of Palermo on the Sicily Island of Italy continues.

Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning coal, oil and gas, have heated the planet by about 1.3 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. Europe has warmed at twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Eastern European countries, including Greece, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania, and North Macedonia, continue to grapple with high temperatures and heat-driven wildfires, while Western nations such as France, the UK, Spain, and Denmark see relief from the heat wave as cooler, rainy weather sets in.