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PT · 2018 yearbook

Wildfires in Portugal in 2018

23 fires larger than 100 hectares in Portugal in 2018, with 34,588 hectares burned according to their perimeters. Here is the whole year: what the official record says, when and where it burned and what the weather was like.

Only fires of 100 ha or more get an entry: smaller ones are not in the lists or the entry totals, but they are in the official yearly series.

The year in a few sentences

  1. According to ICNF (Statistics Portugal), 44,760 hectares burned in Portugal in 2018: 33% of the average of the other years from 2011 to 2025 (133,825 ha).

    ICNF (Statistics Portugal) · See the data

  2. The worst week was 30 July to 5 August: 27,764 hectares burned in seven days, 75% of the year according to Copernicus EFFIS.

    Copernicus EFFIS · See the data

  3. The largest fire was the Monchique fire, which started on 3 August 2018 and burned 27,635 hectares: 80% of the area of the year's 23 fires with a page.

    WorldFires · See the data · Open the fire page

  4. The day of highest danger at a fire this year was 3 August 2018: a Fire Weather Index of 79 (very extreme on the EFFIS scale) at the Monchique fire, calculated by WorldFires from ERA5.

    WorldFires · ERA5 · See the data · Open the fire page

Official burned area
45k ha
Copernicus EFFIS · ×0.3 the average
Fires with a page
23
34,588 ha within their perimeters
Largest fire
28k ha
Monchique · 3 Aug
Highest FWI
79 Very extreme
3 Aug · Monchique

Map of the year

Copernicus EFFIS
One circle per fire, sized by its area. Tap one to open its page.

Month by month

Hectares within the perimeters by the month the fire started. Tap a month to see it on the map.

Week by week, against other years

Copernicus EFFIS

Cumulative burned area in 2018 over the lowest and highest of each week in the record since 2006, and its average. The bars below show what burned each week. Tap the chart to see a week. The average and the band are the Copernicus EFFIS climatology for 2006–2025, which includes 2018 itself.

0 188k 376k 564k Worst week · 28k ha Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov
2018 average 2006–2025 lowest and highest Hectares each week

Every year since 2011

ICNF (Statistics Portugal)

Hectares burned per year in the official record. Tap a year to open its yearbook.

2018: 44,760 ha Average of the other years: 133,825 ha

Cite this

Markdown version

Copy the sentences with their source and link. WorldFires data are CC BY 4.0: credit WorldFires and the original source.

- According to ICNF (Statistics Portugal), 44,760 hectares burned in Portugal in 2018: 33% of the average of the other years from 2011 to 2025 (133,825 ha).
- The worst week was 30 July to 5 August: 27,764 hectares burned in seven days, 75% of the year according to Copernicus EFFIS.
- The largest fire was the Monchique fire, which started on 3 August 2018 and burned 27,635 hectares: 80% of the area of the year's 23 fires with a page.
- The day of highest danger at a fire this year was 3 August 2018: a Fire Weather Index of 79 (very extreme on the EFFIS scale) at the Monchique fire, calculated by WorldFires from ERA5.

WorldFires, “Wildfires in Portugal in 2018”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/portugal/2018 (accessed 14 November 2026). Sources: ICNF (Statistics Portugal), Copernicus EFFIS, WorldFires, WorldFires · ERA5.

Fires of 2018, largest first · 23

Burned area in 2018 (Copernicus Land, Sentinel-3)

According to Copernicus Land, 42,803 ha burned in 2018 (Jul–Dec). The year is not complete, so it is not compared with the others.

The area the Sentinel-3 satellite sees burned each month, separate from the fire pages. It is the same source and the same method every year, so years can be compared with each other. It counts everything that burns, including crop and pasture burning, which is why it does not match the fire pages or the official statistics.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Where most burned in 2018

  1. Monchique 18,514 ha
  2. Silves 10,884 ha
  3. Aljustrel 1,790 ha
  4. Beja 1,202 ha
  5. Almodôvar 1,193 ha
  6. Celorico da Beira 823 ha
  7. Portimão 820 ha
  8. Alfândega da Fé 774 ha
  9. Cascais 735 ha
  10. Ferreira do Alentejo 656 ha

The whole series since 2018

Source: Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, “Burnt Area 2018-present (raster 300 m), global, monthly – version 4”, monthly Sentinel-3 product, DOI 10.2909/8fa58061-28ab-49bb-9b77-c26b50733e34. Generated using European Union’s Copernicus Land Monitoring Service information; worldfires.org adds up, by country and region, the true area of the 300 m cells where a burn was detected. Latest month published: May 2026. Product page · Methodology

Sources and limits

Fire-page areas are satellite-measured perimeters and may differ from official statistics. The yearly and weekly record is the Copernicus EFFIS estimate. The FWI is our own calculation from ERA5 at each fire's location: it is not an official danger warning.

Official information for Portugal is published by: ICNF · Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas · ANEPC · Proteção Civil · Fogos.pt (ocorrências em tempo real)

Perimeters: Copernicus EFFIS and GWIS (and MTBS, NIFC or NBAC in North America). Hotspots: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS). Weather: Copernicus ERA5 via Open-Meteo. How it is calculated