The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) which provides updated and reliable information on wild land fires in Europe supporting forest fire prevention and fire-fighting services in the European countries, has issued a statement with the current situation in the UE. Despite of a slight improvement forecast in the situation at the beginning of this week, fire danger conditions remain very high in the western part of the Mediterranean region, in Portugal, Spain and France.

According to a statement issued by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the 2012 fire season has been characterized by a high number of fires in the early season. Over 100,000 hectares had already been consumed by fire at the end of March. In addition the statement confirms that July brought critical fire episodes in Spain and Portugal, which led to a number of human casualties. Fire danger has been very high in southern Europe during the last weeks, in particular in Portugal, Spain, southern France, central and southern Italy (where a large number of fires are still active), the Balkan region, Greece and Turkey. Recently, an European research found new patterns to predict the spread of wildfires.

EFFIS, which provides updated and reliable information on wild land fires in Europe supporting forest fire prevention and fire-fighting services in the European countries, also provides fire danger forecast up to six days in advance, enhancing the preparedness of the countries at risk of fire. Furthermore, fires are monitored and mapped by EFFIS, providing near-real time estimates of fire damages across Europe.

The system is developed and run by the European Commission's in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in collaboration with the Directorate General for Environment (DG ENV) and the Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO). Up to now, approximately 580,000 hectares have been burnt this year in the area monitored by EFFIS, which includes Europe, Middle East and North African countries.