For a third summer in a row, extreme heat is causing chaos in southeastern Europe.
Turkey recorded its highest temperature on record on Friday reaching 50.5C, or 123F. The UK Met Office says: “This extreme heat is bringing serious health impacts and giving a very high risk of wildfires.”
Blazes have also broken out in parts of Albania and Italy. In Greece, firefighters are tackling wildfires in the northern suburbs of Athens as well as on some Greek islands.
A pattern of wildfires and evacuations on Greek islands has played out each summer.
- 2023: the mass evacuation of 20,000 holidaymakers from the Greek island of Rhodes due to wildfires.
- 2024: many British tourists in Kos were moved from their hotels as a precaution as wildfires flared. Other islands including Zante still bear the scars of wildfires.
- 2025: earlier this summer, several thousand people were evacuated from the south eastern corner of Crete, though the wildfires did not affect the key resorts of Elounda and Malia.
Besides the extreme distress caused to communities who have seen some homes destroyed in the blaze, there is concern about the safety of holidaymakers – with fears that hot, dry conditions could fuel further blazes.
What is happening in Greece?
The Greek national weather service predicts that, on the mainland, the heat will reach heights of 37 degrees this summer. The General Secretariat for Civil Protection has issued a Fire Risk Map that shows the southern mainland of Greece, as well as the whole island of Crete, at the second-highest alert.
Fires over the weekend on some lesser-visited islands including Kythira and Evia.
After weeks of hot, dry weather, the fear is that wildfires could break out elsewhere. Holidaymakers in Athens have been affected: the Acropolis, the main tourist attraction in the Greek capital, closed for five hours on Sunday afternoon “due to high temperatures for the safety of employees and visitors”. Meanwhile cruise ships are cancelling some excursions because of concerns about extreme heat.
What are the authorities saying about the current heatwave?
Even without wildfires, heat can be a serious problem. The Greek…
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