Trends and patterns in annually burned forest areas and fire weather across the European boreal zone in the 20th and early 21st centuries

•Large fire years in boreal Europe did not increase their occurrence over 20th and 21st centuries.•Fire-prone years are consistently associated with high pressure atmospheric cells.•Climatological fire hazard in spring increased in the western and northern parts of the study area.•There is an association of the fire activity with June SNAO (Summer North Atlantic Oscillation).