MASSIVE wildfires have erupted in Greece after a week-long heatwave peaked with temperatures surpassing 45 degrees.
Thousands of people have reportedly been evacuated as fires swept villages near Athens and other Greek islands.
A wildfire swept through a northern suburb of Athens, the capital of Greece, on Saturday, prompting evacuation orders for some residents, according to reports from the country’s Fire Service.
Residents of the town of Kryoneri, some 12 miles northeast of Athens, received three SMS messages to evacuate to safe areas.
While residents of the nearby village of Krioneri were instructed by authorities to evacuate.
Explosions erupted as massive smoke clouds engulfed the village of Drosopigi, situated 15 miles north of Athens, an area known for housing factories with flammable materials.
Helicopters dropped water, and 65 firefighters battled the flames, assisted by 26 vehicles and two aircraft.
Fire service is also dealing with three other major fires in the southwest of Greece’s two largest islands, Crete in the south and Evia.
At least 335 firefighters, 19 planes and 13 helicopters are involved, but can only operate in daylight, authorities revealed.
In total, 52 wildfires broke out across the country over the past 24 hours, a spokesman for the fire department said.
Strong winds are causing the fire to spread rapidly and prompting evacuations of several settlements.
Meanwhile, on the island of Evia, a team of 115 firefighters, supported by 24 vehicles, six aircraft, and seven helicopters, battled to extinguish fires, but their efforts were complicated by strong winds.
Residents of the island’s Triada area were told to be ready in case they needed to leave.
The fire on Evia is the latest in a series of bushfires stoked by strong winds and dry conditions this month.
On the island of Kythera, authorities evacuated the villages of Aroniadika, Pitsinades and Aryoi.
In the area of Messinia, west of Athens, residents of the Kryoneri and Sellas villages were also told to leave.
These sites were on a list of Greek regions on high alert for wildfires due to record-breaking temperatures and strong winds due on Saturday.
Temperatures in Greece were forecast to reach up to 44 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the Greek weather service said.
Wildfires, many of them destructive, have become a common occurrence in Greece in recent years.
Several fires broke out in the past month.
Greece and other Mediterranean countries are in an area dubbed “a wildfire hotspot” by scientists, with blazes common during hot and dry summers.
These have become more destructive in recent years.
Some 1,500 people were evacuated after raging wildfires spread across Crete earlier this month.
The night sky turned orange as the burning blazes left a trail of destruction on the popular island.
Evacuations were ordered at three sites outside the port of Ierapetra on the island’s south coast, authorities said.
Homes were reportedly damaged as flames swept through hillside forests, fanned by strong winds.
Meanwhile, devastating wildfires have again erupted in Turkey, with hundreds of people evacuated as massive blazes continue to rip through the country.
Presidetn Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned of a “truly great disaster” after at least 13 people died in the fatal fires.
New wildfires broke out on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast on Friday, as the government declared two western provinces in the country to be “disaster zones”.
East of Antalya, fires broke out in Adana and Mersin on Friday.
Elsewhere in the country, firefighters continued battling blazes in Eskisehir and nearby Karabuk that have been raging for several days.
Meanwhile, Cyprus has been hit with its worst wildfires “for 50 years” amid growing fears a 44°C heatwave will fuel the blaze even further.
The country has plunged into chaos after two people were burnt alive and more than 70 houses were destroyed.
