Wildfires across Europe have killed hundreds over the last decade

MADRID (AP) — Wildfires raging across Europe have killed hundreds of people over the last decade, and climate change is set to push the death toll even higher in the coming years.

A wildfire in southern Spain killed at least 11 people overnight into Friday morning, making it one of the country’s deadliest on record, as soaring temperatures gripped much of the country.

In France, a rock fall Wednesday killed a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter who was helping battle a hard-to-reach forest fire in the mountains of the Alpine Savoie region of southeast France, as extreme high temperatures turned parched woodlands and scrub into tinderboxes.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing several intense heat waves across Europe.

Scientists warn that climate change caused in part by the burning of fuels like gasoline, oil and coal is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making certain regions more vulnerable to wildfires.

Here's a look at some of the last decade's deadliest wildfires across Europe:

Greece’s deadliest wildfire was in 2018, when a massive blaze swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 people died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.

In 2023, more than 20 people died in Greek wildfires, including 18 migrants who became trapped by the flames of what became Europe’s largest single recorded wildfire as they crossed through a forest in northeastern Greece.

More recently, a wildfire in northern Greece killed a 12-year-old boy and his father last week.

Last July, 10 firefighters and rescue workers were killed while trying to put out a wildfire that raged in a forested area of Eskisehir province in northwestern Turkey. The victims were forestry workers and members of the AKUT rescue organization.

Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said at the time that winds suddenly changed direction, causing the flames to shift and surround the forestry workers.

One of them was a 28-year-old man who had returned to work from his honeymoon just two days earlier. And one AKUT volunteer had spent a month rescuing the victims of a catastrophic earthquake that struck southern Turkey in February 2023.

Portugal's deadliest wildfire left 66 people dead in 2017 in Pedrogao Grande, 200 kilometers (120 miles) northeast of Lisbon. Most of the victims died on one road while trying to flee in cars.

Additional late-season wildfires brought 2017's annual wildfire-related death toll in Portugal even higher, to more than 120 people, making it the deadliest year for such fatalities. The victims included a 1-month-old infant and the baby's parents.

The Portuguese government went on to enact a range of measures to prevent and contain wildfires.

Reforms included public education campaigns on how fires start, establishing a rapid reaction force of firefighters and cutting several thousand kilometers (miles) of firebreaks, as well as making available a large number of firefighting assets.

In Cyprus, many officials have pointed to climate change for the ferocity and speed of recent wildfires that have claimed at least six lives over the last five years.

In July 2021, the charred remains of four Egyptian laborers were discovered outside a fire-swept mountain village in what one official called the “most destructive” blaze the east Mediterranean island nation had ever seen.

Last July, rescue crews found the bodies of an elderly couple inside a gutted car on the shoulder of a mountain road. The speed with which the wildfire scorched roughly 50 square miles of forested hillsides prompted President Nikos Christodoulides to remark that “there’s never been anything like this before in Cyprus.”

Very strong winds, high temperatures and very arid conditions after three winters of minimal rainfall created a perfect storm at the wildfire’s peak.

In August last year, a study by World Weather Attribution said climate change that has driven scorching temperatures and dwindling rainfall made massive wildfires in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus burn much more fiercely that summer.

FILE - People stand amid the charred remains of burned-out cars following a deadly wildfire, in Mati east of Athens, Tuesday, July 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

A firefighter works on a wildfire on the outskirts of the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a warehouse during a wildfire on the outskirts of the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Firefighters work on a wildfire near Ille-sur-Têt, southern France, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Locals try to extinguish a wildfire on the outskirts of the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

SK Hynix, one of the world's largest makers of memory chips, is hitting the U.S. stock market at a time when demand for its chips is outpacing its ability to make them thanks to the frenzy over artificial intelligence.

The company is already one of the largest in South Korea, along with Samsung Electronics, and is traded publicly on Seoul's Kospi index. Even with a recent pullback, the Kospi is up 77% so far this year and SK Hynix shares have more than tripled.

SK Hynix priced its American depositary receipts, or ADRs, at $149 each Thursday. At that price, the offering of 177.9 million ADRs raised proceeds of $26.5 billion, making it the biggest-ever initial share sale in the U.S. by a foreign company. The ADRs are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq later Friday.

The company has a dominant position globally for high bandwidth memory, which is essential for the development of advanced AI technology. SK Hynix recently entered a partnership with Wall Street’s most valuable company, Nvidia, for advanced memory chips as AI infrastructure expands globally.

Increasing demand for AI has been driving a surge in profits for chipmakers. Memory chips have become more expensive as demand outpaces supply along with the advancement of artificial intelligence technology. Technology giant Apple recently announced an increase in prices for Macs and iPads because of the jump in price for memory chips.

The U.S. is the SK Hynix’s largest market, accounting for 68.8% of its revenue last year. It is planning an expansion that includes building its first U.S. production facility, located in Indiana. Overall, the company had revenue of just under $65 billion in 2025. That helped profits double to about $28 billion.

The company recently joined with Samsung and the government in announcing plans to invest a combined 800 trillion won ($518 billion) in building a new computer chipmaking hub in South Korea’s southwest region, part of national efforts to expand investment beyond the greater Seoul metropolitan area, the country’s economic center and heart of its semiconductor sector.

The promise of growing profits has catapulted stock prices within the tech sector, particularly for chipmakers. Micron Technology's stock value more than tripled in 2025 and is on pace to more than triple again in 2026. Nvidia's stock had similar growth several years ago and notched more relatively modest gains in 2025.

Big chipmakers have become the most valuable and influential companies on Wall Street. Their high stock values give them outsized influence over Wall Street and major indexes have been setting records mostly because of the tech sector.

Shares in SK Hynix traded in Seoul slipped 0.3% on Friday.

FILE - A logo of SK Hynix is seen at Korea Electronics Show in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 8, 2019. The big South Korean chipmaker will begin trading on the Nasdaq Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)