Will the most damaging vegetation fires increase in a future climate?
In large parts of northern and eastern Europe, spring fires in last year’s grass on open ground account for an even larger proportion of fires. Although these rapid, but usually smaller, fires receive less media coverage, research shows that they are responsible for most damage to people and buildings. Compared to the risk of forest fires, the risk of grass fires is more sensitive to rapid weather changes and depends entirely on how far the growth of this year’s green grass has progressed. Sweden is unique in having a warning system that takes into account the growth of the grass, which has also worked in eastern Europe.