EU proposes dedicated firefighting aircraft fleet after record summer heat crisis

In her State of the European Union address, Ursula von der Leyen warned that the recent scorching summer exposed a critical gap in the EU’s ability to combat climate-driven disasters. She unveiled a European Heatwave Plan and proposed establishing a permanent EU firefighting fleet of aircraft, expanding on one outlet modest fleet that coordinates with national resources. The heatwave, which dried major rivers such as the Danube, Rhine and La Garonne, is said to have caused more than 35,000 extra deaths, a figure that far exceeds earlier excess-mortality estimates.

Fires across France, Spain and other countries forced mass evacuations, halted nuclear power plants, and triggered secondary hazards like exploding century-old munitions. A study by the World Weather Attribution group linked the unprecedented heat and humidity directly to climate change, noting Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average. Von der Leyen honored Danish helicopter pilot Rune Kyndal, killed while battling a Greek fire, as a symbol of the bravery needed for future response efforts.