SOS Alarm in Norrbotten, Sweden is experiencing extreme call volumes from approximately 20 fires triggered by lightning in a heatwave, resulting in delayed emergency response times.

A 250-hectare lightning-caused wildfire continues to burn in remote forest near Lillselet in Jokkmokk, with firefighters unable to extinguish it until rainfall arrives.

Thunderstorms with heavy lightning have ignited several wildfires across Vestland, prompting weather warnings and emergency responses in Hardanger, Gloppen, Kvinnherad, and Øygarden.

Multiple wildfires across Finnish Lapland this week prompted dozens of rescue responses, with Border Guard and Defence Forces helicopters assisting amid dry conditions and an open fire ban.

Lapland’s rescue services and volunteer fire brigades have responded to dozens of wildfires and smoke reports since Tuesday amid very dry terrain and lightning strikes igniting new fires, though current resources have been sufficient.

The total area of active forest fires in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) grew from 265 ha to 1,462.5 ha on July 22, with 10 fires being fought by 306 personnel and 14 units of equipment.

Several wildfires broke out across Överkalix and other parts of Norrbotten following a thunderstorm and lightning strikes on July 22, 2025, overwhelming local emergency services.

Authorities in Russia’s Tyva Republic declared a state of emergency after eight wildfires grew to over 324 hectares, banning public entry to forests.

A BC Wildfire Service update reports that a wildfire near Comox Lake in B.C. grew to 4.5 hectares overnight as crews and aircraft work to contain the out-of-control blaze, while a separate 3-hectare fire near Nanaimo River Road also remains uncontained.

Over the weekend, train traffic on the Iron Ore Line was halted for nearly 24 hours due to sun-induced track kinks (“solkurvor”), a phenomenon that Trafikverket warns could recur on hot days.

In July 2025, lightning-triggered wildfires near the Kobuk River in Northwest Alaska threatened local homes and the tundra ecosystem. The author returned by small plane to set up firebreaks and sprinkler systems with fire crews to protect his sod house and surrounding caribou habitat.

Warm, dry weekend conditions in Manitoba increased wildfire behaviour across nearly all active blazes, prompting evacuations, air quality warnings and challenges for aerial suppression.

A wildfire near Lake Spokane in southern Stevens County grew to over 2,000 acres by Sunday, prompting evacuations as thick smoke blanketed the region.

Volunteer firefighting flights in Norrbotten faced their most hectic period ever when a Sunday thunderstorm sparked multiple lightning-ignited wildfires, creating a “wall of lightning” that hindered access across Gällivare, Kiruna, Pajala and Porjus.

Lightning strikes from passing thunderclouds have ignited forest fires in several inland municipalities in Norrbotten County, Sweden, prompting rescue services to work to extinguish them.

New fissures on the Reykjanes Peninsula have sent lava eastward and prompted fresh hazard warnings, with high sulfur dioxide levels and drifting volcanic fibers adding to safety concerns.

Heavy rainfall has raised water levels in the Indigirka, Kuydusun, and Nera rivers, flooding yards in Orto-Balagay, Kuydusun, Oymyakon and Ust-Nera, and submerging sections of the Oymyakon and Kolyma highways.

With wildfires spreading in the Kobuk River country of Northwest Alaska, I just knew I needed to find a way to get home.The Nuna fire is burning still, pushed north by strong southerly winds. There has been some rain, not a lot. I remain concerned about my home. I’m worried about the caribou, too, and what brush will revegetate that tundra after these fires. I’m worried about that beautiful big land between the Jades and Onion Portage, the Hunt and Nuna river valleys.

A magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck northern Greenland on July 15, 2025, and was recorded by 118 stations globally, including more than 10,000 km away in Brazil.

The 2,000-acre fire and others north of the Brooks Range fit a pattern of increasing wildfires in the treeless landscape. While most Alaska tundra fires are south of the Brooks Range, in Northwest or Western Alaska, fires north of the Brooks Range are becoming more common and bigger, according to scientists.