From coast to coast, holiday spots threatened by blazes

UNPRECEDENTED dry, hot weather has seen wildfires across a swathe of southern Europe, including several holiday spots popular with Britons.

In France, as well as the Riviera, the island of Corsica has been hit, with nearly 5,000 acres of forest burned and homes threatened in the town of Biguglia.

A sawmill and several vehicles were destroyed.

In Portugal, where 64 people were killed in wildfires last month, vast areas of forest were alight last night.

More than 2,300 firemen are battling 13 blazes, mostly in an area of dense pine and eucalyptus near Serta, 125 miles north-east of Lisbon. Many areas have been burning since the weekend. The flames are being fanned by strong winds and thick smoke is hampering attempts to use aircraft to drop water. There are no reports of casualties.

In Italy, officials blamed arsonists for wildfires in Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia, Lazio and Puglia.

In Albania, 130 firemen were battling 18 blazes last night.

Officials said 3 acres of pasture, vineyards and olive groves had been destroyed.

In Turkey, fire destroyed more than 600 acres of forest near popular resorts close to Izmir.

It follows fires in Croatia and Montenegro at the weekend.