Wildfires and successive heatwaves across Europe have already caused more than €3 billion in economic losses in 2026, according to a Financial Times analysis, highlighting the rising cost of extreme weather events linked to climate change. The figure already exceeds the European Commission’s estimate of an average annual wildfire cost of €2.5 billion across the entire European Union. Sarah Meier, a climate economist at ETH Zurich, warned that the true economic cost of the wildfires could be more than three times higher than current estimates, particularly if fires spread into urban areas. Wildfires Disrupt Industry and AgricultureIn France, wildfires in the Gironde region forced industrial groups including Safran, Dassault Aviation and ArianeGroup to temporarily suspend production and evacuate facilities. In Spain, wildfires came within approximately 50 kilometers of Madrid, destroying homes, vehicles and agricultural land in rural areas.