FOREST fire warnings have been issued in northern European countries as the “high risk” of summer wildfire season spreads up the continent.

A lack of rain and rising temperatures have led to dangerously dry conditions in the region, from Scotland to the Nordic and Baltic countries.

The warnings have raised concerns of a repeat of the summer of 2018 when major wildfires swept across Sweden in particular.

While wildfires are common in the Mediterranean countries, the phenomenon is rare in northern Europe where summers are cooler and wetter in comparison.

Small wildfires are already burning in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Scotland and experts worry it could get much worse unless there is significant rainfall in coming weeks.

Swedish weather agency SMHI head of hydrological forecasting Niclas Hjerdt said: “These countries are relatively new to drought problems.

“We usually have an excess of water up here in northern Europe and Scandinavia.

“So there isn’t this historic knowledge of how to deal with drought situations that you could find in countries further south in Europe.”

SMHI says that southern Sweden received very little rain in May and not a single drop so far in June, leaving the soil exceptionally dry.

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Mr Hjerdt said that while it is too early to draw any link to climate change, in general, a warming climate is making the Nordic region more vulnerable to forest fires by making summers longer and winters shorter.

It also prolongs the “vegetative” season when most precipitation evaporates or transpires rather than sinking deeper into the ground.

The Federation of Swedish Farmers said the drought had already affected grassland crops and could have an impact on cereals.

“If there is no rain soon, future harvests will suffer,” the labour group said in a statement.

It noted that due to the hot and dry summer of 2018, the industry lost almost the entire grain harvest at a cost of approximately 10 billion Swedish krona (£735 million).