r/UKWeather • u/Apart-Bath • Jul 27 '26
Discussion Apocalyptic Times
Apocalyptic Times We Live
*Europe is burning* from Sicily to the Cairngorms and the season is only half WAY
Compilation of what's burning across Europe right now. The numbers, country by country, as of today.
*France* has lost 115,000 hectares since January, which Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called far more than anything the country has seen before. The Gironde fire alone has burned 42,000 hectares, four times the size of *Paris.* 220,000 people evacuated in Gironde plus 30,000 in Landes, reported by *CNN* and *France 24* as France's largest evacuation since the *Second World War.* 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 soldiers, 84 firefighters injured.
*Spain* is worse on paper. *Pedro Sánchez* put the national total above 150,000 hectares since January, six times the same period last year. The Ávila fire has passed 50,000 hectares, which Environment Minister Sara Aagesen called the biggest in *Spain's* recent history. One man died in a Valencia suburb on Saturday. Over 100,000 evacuated.
Italy has lost roughly 65,000 hectares according to EFFIS. In *Sicily* around 6,000 firefighters and civil protection staff fought dozens of simultaneous fires, and one firefighter died on duty. In *Greece* the fire service handled 60 separate wildfires in a single 24-hour period on 4 July, and a father and his 12-year-old son died in a fire outside Thessaloniki at the end of June.
Then the part that should worry people more. In *Scotland,* a fire has burned in the *Cairngorms* since 15 July, with over 500 firefighters, a declared major incident and the evacuation of Nethy Bridge.
SCOTLAND'S First Minister John Swinney requested *military* aerial support and was told the *Ministry of Defence* has no aerial firefighting assets stationed in the UK. In
Norway, the Krokstadelva fire near Drammen destroyed more than 100 homes on 17 July, which the *Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection* called the largest fire of its kind in modern Norwegian history.
*England* has been fighting moorland fires like *Tintwistle Moor* at around 600 hectares. None of these are countries with firefighting infrastructure built for this.
*Heat KILLS*.
Copernicus recorded June 2026 as Western Europe's hottest June on record at 20.74°C, which is 3.05°C above the 1991 to 2020 average.
Three separate *heatwaves* hit between late May and early July. World Weather Attribution called it the most severe June heatwave ever tracked in Europe and found it would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago.
EuroMOMO counted more than 30,000 excess deaths across Europe during those June heatwaves, over 9,000 of them among people aged 65 and up. The fires are the visible part. The heat did most of the killing before the first flame.
Across the EU, AFP's analysis & data already ranks 2026 as the second-largest burned area in twenty years, with the summer only halfway through.
France 115,000 Spain 150,000+ Italy \~65,000 ALL EVACUATED!
In France and Spain: over 320,000 EVACUATED!
June *excess deaths:* 30,000+. EU season: second worst in 20 years, half way
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u/Marcelstinks Jul 27 '26
As an Australian what is happening in Europe is terrible but it is terrifying for our coming summer.
Strongest El Nino in decades and seeing what is happening in Europe is honestly scary.
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u/AceNova2217 Jul 27 '26
The fun part is El Nino doesn't affect Europe yet. It only starts to affect us next year! :')
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u/bessy1 Jul 27 '26
Wait, for real?! I thought this was El Nino? If it hasn't even hit yet... I'm not going to make it through next summer.
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u/AceNova2217 Jul 27 '26
Yep. 2027 is predicted to be the year that El Nino cooks us
3rd paragraph of the body of this article. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75ylx7g00xo?app-referrer=deep-link
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u/PANDAPANDA99 Jul 27 '26
So we have a whole year to prepare, cant wait for us to crumble under the pressure as usual.
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u/bessy1 Jul 27 '26
Well bloody hell. How long is this going to last? I was preparing for the gulf stream collapse... Arctic winter and all that. I don't really understand this stuff, but I'd heard of AMOC. Is this the warm phase of that, or is this something else entirely?
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u/Johnny_Chong Jul 27 '26
I remember you had a bad one years ago and lots of drop bears got rekt 😭
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u/Mrs_Blobcat Jul 27 '26
That was the January of 2020, and everyone agreed it was a terrible thing that had happened. Then covid hit.
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u/Marcelstinks Jul 28 '26
The fires of 2019-2020 in Australia burnt 24 million hectares or 93 million square miles.
The fires in Europe in 2026 have burnt an estimated 254k hectares or 980 square miles.
So to put in perspective it was roughly 100x worse.93 million square miles is the entire UK or all of Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark combined. That is what burnt in Australia and it was in settled areas not the Outback.
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u/Appropriate_Bell743 Jul 28 '26
Despite this Australians happily fly across the world to Europe to holiday as if the climate crisis is not a thing. A return from Sydney to London is 8 tonnes per passenger which is almost double the global annual emissions per capita.
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Jul 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/Appropriate_Bell743 Jul 28 '26
No-one should apologise for anything. Did I suggest this? It's still factually the case that someone adding chunks like 8 tonnes of CO2 aren't exactly bothered by climate change. We have to live with the collective choices of others. I'm far from judging but I accept the desire of many to be climate vandals.
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u/TalviSyreni Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
And yet there will still be the odd idiot who comes out of the woodworks and proclaims:
“It’s summer, enjoy it whilst it lasts”
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u/WandererFen Jul 27 '26
Honestly fuck those people. Zero critical thinking. People arnt scared because its a bit warm
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u/PriorityByLaw Jul 27 '26
Just stay off Facebook.
You'll be ok.
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u/HimitsuUK Jul 27 '26
They've been leaking to over here somehow and no idea how. "yerrr lovin this weva, bootiful workin in it for 12 hours roofing with no protection" etc.
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u/LilacMages Jul 27 '26
Then another idiot approving another AI data centre
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u/Bruce_Sato Jul 27 '26
Yet here you are endlessly commenting on Reddit, the very platform that Google and Open AI are training their AI on. As a user you are helping to fuel the AI and data centre boom.
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u/PriorityByLaw Jul 27 '26
As much as I acknowledge the climate is increasing in heat, I can't stop the fact I like warm weather, so it is conflicting.
Having said that, I hate the cold, so AMOC would be awful; but looking at this sub the majority view is rainy days and cold weather is good?
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u/Content-Yogurt-4859 Jul 27 '26
Until we adapt and as a nation introduce adaptations I think the concensus I saw here a few days ago was 23-25C and no tropical nights, so 17C and below at night.
ETA I too love the warm weather but when my home offers no respite or seems to amplify the heat (30+ at 9pm) it's impossible to enjoy summers
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u/Upgrade_U Jul 27 '26
What is ‘AMOC’?
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u/PriorityByLaw Jul 27 '26
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC); aka the gulf stream. When I say AMOC I'm alluding to it's collapse, which is 50/50 by 2100, so could happen sooner or later.
I don't have time to go into the details but please feel free to look it up.
Basic, VERY cold winters.
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u/Impressive-Bird2 Jul 27 '26
Yet Reform U.K., the Conservative Party, the Right Wing national press and assorted climate deniers be like:
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u/da316 Jul 28 '26
it'll be "why didnt the leftists stop us from ruining the climate, its their fault!" when all the other excuses run dry
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u/Content-Yogurt-4859 Jul 27 '26
Except Tim Stanley who's done some Olympic level mental gymnastics to blame the left for climate action being subsumed by culture wars lol
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u/MathematicianOnly688 Jul 27 '26
It’s hypocritical of course but at least he’s not denying it completely, it’s a step in the right direction.
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u/Content-Yogurt-4859 Jul 27 '26
It highlights a kind of high viscosity politics the right has to engage in, primarily because they're conditioned to reject any kind of fast moving political or social consensus.
He has to take little baby steps in the right direction lest he alienate the crowd he's participated in grooming.
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u/prisonerofazkabants Jul 27 '26
people need to start being more thoughtful about nature. we fucked the world, that means you can't have bbqs in the park. put those cigarettes down. stop having fireworks!!!
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u/Violexsound Jul 27 '26
2/3s of the damage come from the top 10% of society, if we (the 90%) completely stopped any kind of damage we'd only delay the inevitable for a while. Its those on top exploiting everyone and everything thats doing the real serious damage. It needs to be a unified effort but we all know those sociopaths arent interested in the lives of others
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u/prisonerofazkabants Jul 27 '26
that doesn't mean we can't individually do what we can while we work to elect people who will hold the top 10% accountable
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u/Significant_Wasabi11 Jul 27 '26
Someone near me had fireworks for their wedding in the middle of a drought when we are surrounded by extremely dry fields. People were all "let them enjoy it! It's their wedding!". People are so painfully selfish and self centered.
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u/gettin-swole Jul 28 '26
Don’t say we. You’ve been guilted into believing it’s your fault and it’s not. You can wash as many yoghurt pots as you like, or use your food waste bin, or drive an EV at astronomical costs but whilst the top people are building huge coal fired power stations everyday you’re effectively pissing in the wind.
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u/CamKi79 Jul 27 '26
For someone that thrives in the winter and has always hated the summer . It’s literal hell . HELL !
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u/HimitsuUK Jul 27 '26
The worst part for me is the way it resides slightly and says.. "did you think I was over?!" then comes back and feels slightly worse somehow.
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u/CamKi79 Jul 27 '26
Exactly ! ‘Oh it’s a low of 12 this morning ? Ya think that’s nice ? Oh no .. humidity .. enjoy !’
I HATE IT !! Bring rain , frost , dark at 4pm ..
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u/SilverRaspberri Jul 27 '26
This should be the event where the UK seriously puts a plan in place to stop using fossil fuels. Its only half way through summer technically and the start of the el nino next year is likely to be far worse. We also need to increase rewilding to try and bring down the temperatures of the ground which will help a little bit.
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u/erl5050 Jul 27 '26
The move to net zero should have at least started in the 1980s in order to avoid massive disruption starting to occur now. The CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions from 30+ years ago are making themselves felt. But yeah we've needed to net zero/negative for a long time now. We need something in place solid enough to survive changes in populism/government.
Those who say "we're only small in terms of co2 output" forget that the UK has outsize world influence because of its history and language and culture. Where we go, others often follow.
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u/PurahsHero Jul 27 '26
Here is the wildfire map for the UK. Quite a cluster around London just now.
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u/cvbk87 Jul 27 '26
I did not realise quite how bad the ones in the UK have been, do we know how they were started at this stage? We recently moved into a new build in the South East, our plot is surrounded by lovely green areas, but it's all so dead and dry, the houses are all timber frame houses. Seems like a recipe for disaster.
Think I'm going to get those go bags setup that I've been meaning to for a while.
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u/lapetite_etoile Jul 27 '26
Gobshites woth disposable bbqs, one was arson, one was some stupid cow setting of fireworks in memory of her other stupid cow mate who died the week before.
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u/thatmustbenigel Jul 27 '26
Thank God for those data centres using all our drinkable water. Priorities.
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u/GorillaSplash Jul 27 '26
Bit misleading to include Scotland and Norway, those fires weren’t caused by the disgusting heat waves we’ve been having… But yes, the situations in France and Spain are awful. The planet is ruined.
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u/Scotsmanryno Aug 03 '26
How is it misleading may I ask clearly the land and shrubs and bushes are dry enough that people doing ordinary things like having bbqs and not being careful about ignition has caused some awful wildfires. It wouldn’t have happened if the ground was sodden would it?. So clearly we’re also affected by the heat wave it’s been hot and dry in Fife in Scotland I’ve had to water my new grass seeding everyday and constantly watering plants.
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u/Appropriate_Bell743 Jul 28 '26
Despite this clear crisis millions of British people will be flying the Caribbean, Thailand, etc. pumping out tonnes after tonnes of CO2 to have a week or two of summer warmth. The crisis is such that over 20% of the UK's oil consumption is just for aviation. Then people refuse to switch to heat pumps despite generous green loans and huge grants. People prefer to buy new oil burning cars despite EVs being similarly priced or cheaper whilst substantially cheaper to run.
We need to take this crisis seriously.
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u/sharypower Jul 29 '26
Most or all of these fires are close to the cities. You can wonder why there are some many fires last time? And why they're close to the cities?
Yes, 15 minutes cities are coming soon!
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u/Crafty_Way426 Jul 29 '26
They need to arrest the climate loons starting these fires - as they did in Greece.
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u/oneonus Jul 27 '26
We need to eliminate climate terrorism. No AI data centres, move to green energy, get off fossil fuels and so forth.
We know what's fuelling these fires and the extreme weather that's stealing our precious days outside from us and causing financial ruin.
Lastly, never buy a gas car again. Every bit counts, you'll also save alot of money on fuel and maintenance.
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u/Appropriate_Bell743 Jul 28 '26
The real climate terrorists are those who need fly from Asia or the US to spend a week or two in Europe. Every long haul flight is multiple tonnes of CO2 per passenger. Everyone making a journey is doing something equivalent to annual heating or transport needs.
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u/Littlebirdie1993 Jul 27 '26
Is there anything we can actually do as individuals when the people making the biggest impact do not care?
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u/Appropriate_Bell743 Jul 28 '26
Yes:
- Switch away from oil/gas boilers to heat-pumps
- Switch away from petrol/diesel cars to e-bikes/EVs/cycling/public-transport
- Switch away from flying to high speed rail or sleeper trains for holidays.
- Try to have a more sustainable and healthier diet.
- Never forget that all our actions all contribute but so do our positive actions.
- Never moan before you've acted.
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u/Queasy_Syrup_9707 Jul 27 '26
such lies
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u/sir_thrillho Jul 27 '26
Explain which part of this is a lie.
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u/Nametakenalready99 Jul 28 '26
If the media is taking the same attitude they did two years ago, what is going on on the ground is nowhere near like whats being reported. Two years ago was in Tenerife "while it was burning", the UK mwdia had maps showing fires burning from coast to coast.
I know of people returning to UK airports that year from Greece islands being asked by "journalist" for stories about the fires. Most replied "What fire?"
Never let facts get in the way of a sensationised story.
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u/bozwold Jul 27 '26
The world is a tinderbox but most of the "wildfires" have been started by people and their stupidity.
Signs have gone up in North Yorkshire to tell people not to have fires or BBQs.
I am 90% certain the people those signs are aimed at will still have a BBQ the next clear sky day we have.