Large parts of Europe are battling wildfires stoked by high temperatures, winds and a weeks-long drought. The extreme weather comes as tourists look to fly out on their summer holidays to countries such as Greece, Spain and Croatia.
European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System currently has a high risk of fire across much of Southern Europe.
At a stretch of land on the Greece-Bulgaria border, firefighters have had to rely on air support to douse the flames of a fire that has been burning low-lying vegetation since July 18.
Ground forces cannot reach the area because of land mines from past conflicts, said Greek fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.
Firefighters and local authorities have used diggers to build fire break zones around villages, he said.
A fire has also broken out near the village of Svoronata on the Ionian island of Kefalonia in Greece.
The country has long struggled with wildfires caused by rising temperatures and sporadic rainfall that scientists link to climate change.
On the western side of mainland Europe, firefighters in Spain are also battling wildfires amid extreme heat. Hundreds of firefighters backed up by waterbomber aircraft sought to contain two wildfires that raged since Tuesday in eastern Spain.
A blaze in Benasau in the eastern region of Valencia forced emergency services to remove several hundred villagers from their homes as a precaution when it broke out in nearby hills. Firefighters said the “fire is evolving favourably” following all-night efforts.
Another one, in the province of Cuenca more inland, has burnt through more than 1,500 hectares of vegetation since Tuesday. Both blazes have been qualified as severe.
Weather service AEMET predicted maximum temperatures of 43-44 degrees Celsius in parts of the country on Wednesday, which is expected to be the peak day of a heatwave, while the interior ministry warned of very high or extreme risk of wildfires across Spain.
AEMET said that the Barcelona-Fabra observatory in the northeastern region of Catalonia registered an all-time high temperature of 40 C on Tuesday, beating its previous record of 39.8 C set in July 1982.
This is the third heatwave in Spain over the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, firefighters in Croatia…
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