THE WORLD’S ON FIRE!
Tourist terror as top resorts blaze
WILDFIRES are continuing to rage across parts of Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy, with entire villages and beaches being evacuated.
Coastal areas are among the worst-affected, with fires blazing for a FIFTH day in some of Turkey’s Mediterranean resort towns.
Residents and tourists were rescued by small boats during the weekend, as the coastguard and navy ships waited further out to sea in case a larger-scale evacuation was needed.
There are more than 120 fires in Turkey alone, with eight people confirmed dead and 27 more being treated in hospital.
Arson
Fires are common in southern Turkey during hot summers but experts claim this year’s are much bigger than usual.
Authorities are investigating possible arson but scientists blame climate change, with temperatures five or six degrees higher than the average for this time of year.
The current heatwave is being fuelled by hot air from northern Africa and the southern coastal city of Antalya reached 42C (107F) during the weekend and temperatures are expected to reach 47C (116F) this week.
Helicopters are being used to fight the flames in some areas that are unreachable by land, but in many places even aerial firefighting was impossible by Sunday night.
In the Italian city of Pescara, on the Adriatic coast, people ran from the beach when they spotted smoke and flames rising from a nearby pine forest.
In Spain, dozens of firefighters backed by water-dropping aircraft were battling a wildfire that broke out on Saturday afternoon just east of Madrid.
Further afield, huge parts of Siberia in Russia are in flames and in the U.S. nine large fires have collectively burned more than 1.8 million acres in 12 states.