This summer's heatwave has smashed records across Europe, and wildfire warnings have followed in its wake. This is no coincidence: heatwaves help create the perfect conditions for wildfires to ignite and spread. Here’s how it works.
Heatwaves suck moisture out of vegetation
Grass, shrubs and forest litter contain moisture, which helps stop sparks from turning into a fire. Prolonged high temperatures accelerate evaporation from soil and plants. This dry vegetation ignites and spreads faster and burns hotter.
Heatwaves bring the wrong kind of wind
Heatwaves bring long dry spells and shifting, gusty winds that turn small fires into larger, fast-moving ones. These winds supply fires with oxygen and carry embers ahead of the main front, which help the fires ‘jump’ over roads, rivers and firebreaks.
The effects stack up over time
A single hot day rarely causes a major fire on its own. The risk builds over time, as each day of heat and low humidity further dries out soil and vegetation that hasn’t had a chance to recover. This is why long heat spells cause the severest fire activity.
Why this matters more each year
Europe is warming faster than the global average. Long, intense heatwaves are now a regular feature of the summer. That means the conditions that turn a spark into a wildfire are showing up more often, in places that aren’t used to planning for them.
AlertSat and the value of early detection
All of this dramatically increases the importance of early wildfire detection. That is what the AlertSat portal was built to do. It uses satellite data and AI to detect wildfires and deliver rapid alerts straight to user workflows, at scale.
Click here to apply to the AlertSat Wildfire Detection Trial.