Greece fires latest: Wildfires hit Europe from Portugal to Turkey as Met Office warns UK could be next

A wildfire raged near the city of Volos in central Greece on Wednesday as firefighters battled to tackle the blaze.

Firefighters and civilians battling the nine-day wildfires ravaging Rhodes are contending with continuous flare-ups fuelled by unpredictable winds, as temperatures neared a scorching 40C.

Greece’s civil protection agency extended the state of emergency across the entirety of Rhodes on Wednesday, which will remain in place for six months, “to deal with emergencies and manage the consequences of catastrophic forestry fire”.

In the town of Malonas, which was evacuated on Saturday, The Independent watched on alongside exhausted volunteers as a section of the charred forest nearby reignited.

Andy Gregory reports from Rhodes.

Wildfires have raged across Greece for days, triggering large-scale evacuations, rescue flights for British tourists and warnings from officials that things may yet get worse.

While the cause of the blazes has not officially been identified, local authorities have suggested at least some could have been the work of arsonists.

But climate science and fire risk specialists say it’s undeniable that rising temperatures and prolonged heatwaves mean the fires in the Mediterranean country have spread faster and burned over larger areas.

Maanya Sachdeva has more.

Volunteer firefighters were out in the hills of Rhodes again late on Wednesday for the ninth night running, as they sought to dampen persistent blazes.

One volunteer in the hills above the inland village of Malonas spoken to by The Independent at around 10:30pm local time said they were waiting “on lookout” for flare-ups, with the tanks of water on their vehicles still full – in a positive sign the fires there were finally subsiding.

Others were some 25 kilometres further south in Vati, a village nestled between olive groves and pine trees, in an area where firefighting efforts had been most intense on Wednesday.

Local outlet Rodiaki reported that there were three fronts constantly rekindling near Vati and Gennadi – but, as in Malonas, were hoped to ease significantly overnight.

Travel on and off the Italian island of Sicily has been disrupted after wildfires fuelled by extreme temperatures broke out.

Videos and photos show the fires ravaging the island holiday destination, including two of the main airports at Catania and Palermo.

Flames also threatened the ancient archaeological site of Segesta, which had to be closed temporarily to check for any damage.

The Messina area of Sicily has also seen wildfires breakout, with photos showing flames engulfing part of the village of Curcuraci.

Temperatures rose to 47.6C in some parts of the island on Monday, sparking at least 55 separate blazes.

Wildfires that have been supercharged by strong winds and temperatures exceeding 40C killed two people in central Greece yesterday, forcing a new wave of evacuations.

At least 61 wildfires erupted across Greece in the last 24 hours, the fire brigade said. Officials ordered the evacuation of several communities in the hard-hit area of Magnesia, a coastal area north of Athens.

The body of a 45-year-old shepherd was found in a rural area last evening, the fire brigade said. Earlier, authorities had found the body of a woman, state TV ERT said.

Both deaths were attributed to the fires.

Southern European countries suffering from a sizzling heatwave for weeks can finally hope for some respite as a new forecast reveals “subtle changes in the jet stream” that are expected to bring temperatures down.

With shattered temperature records, devastating wildfires in Greece and tragic loss of lives, people have been anxiously awaiting relief from intense heat conditions that gripped Europe this month.

The latest forecast from the UK’s Met Office offers a glimmer of hope as conditions are projected to shift slightly, indicating the weakening of the heat dome that enveloped the southern part of the continent.

Wildfires continue to burn across at least nine countries in Europe and North Africa, forcing mass evacuations as firefighters battle on in tinderbox conditions.

Greece, France, Portugal, Spain, Gran Canaria, Italy, Croatia, and Turkey have seen raging fires this week as extreme heat billows over the countries.

The Greek Fire Brigade has already been battling more than 500 fires for almost two weeks, while the high temperatures of the recent new heatwave are set to exceed 44C in some areas of Greece.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain has more.

In its annual State of the UK Climate report, the Met Office analysed the weather of 2022 and warned temperatures higher than 40C, summer droughts, grassfires and downpours will increase in both frequency and severity.

A severe heatwave gripped the country last summer, as a new temperature record was set (40.3C) and numerous wildfires were reported across Britain. More than 3,000 heat-related deaths were recorded in England and Wales during five “heat periods” between June and August 2022, according to a joint report by the Office of National Statistics and the UK Health Security Agency.

While 2022 was an “extraordinary” year for the UK in terms of weather and climate, the Met Office said these conditions “are a potential warning of what we should expect in the future” as a result of human-caused climate change.

Maanya Sachdeva has more.

British tourists on an easyJet flight to Rhodes have said they refuse to let wildfires ruin their holiday – despite thousands of others heading back home from “holiday hell”. Andy Gregory reports: