Image of the week: Fires in the western Balkans

Image of the week: Fires in the western Balkans Craig MacDonald Fri, 11/09/2026 - 09:48 Image of the week: Fires in the western Balkans Watching our Earth from space This week’s image is a view of smoke plumes from multiple wildfires in the western Balkans on 8 September. The image was captured by the Meteosat-12 satellite in geostationary orbit, 36,000km above the Earth. Last Updated Published on The recent wildfires have mainly affected Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also Montenegro, Albania and Serbia. The fires have been driven by prolonged drought, high temperatures, and strong winds. Large expanses of smoke from the fires can be seen drifting over the Adriatic Sea. The current wildfire situation across Europe can be tracked on this summary page, which uses data from the European Forest Fires Information System ( EFFIS ). Fires image This image was captured by the FCI instrument onboard Meteosat-12 on 8 September 2026. The Meteosat weather satellites provide imagery for the early detection of fast-developing severe weather, weather forecasting and climate monitoring. More info Global fire emissions watch - track wildfire intensity, carbon emissions and smoke around the planet How