Hundreds flee Greek wildfires as Europe bakes in heatwave
HUNDREDS of people were fleeing wildfires in Greece today as extreme temperatures and strong winds hindered efforts to tackle the blazes.
Dozens of homes were gutted by fire in two towns west of Athens as fire brigades battled a third blaze on the island of Rhodes last night.
Greek media reported that the fire broke out in a forest area between the villages of Apollonas and Laerma.
Four aircraft sent from Italy and France were set to join firefighting efforts later today. Air water bombers were continuing to douse flames after wildfires burned for a third day in the towns of Mandra, west of the capital, and Loutraki, close to the Corinth cana.
The blaze, which broke out on Monday in the Dervenochoria region, about 30km north of Athens, spread fast as it was fanned by erratic winds.
Meanwhile, heatwave red alerts remained in place for cities across Italy, Spain and the Balkans. Temperatures reached a high of 44C on the island of Sardinia yesterday and 40C in Rome.
France’s weather service, MétéoFrance, today put nine departments in the south-east on a high heatwave alert. Temperatures of 26C were recorded in Montpellier and Béziers, and 25C in Marseille and Nice at 5am local time.
Americans were also facing extreme weather as the south-western city of Phoenix, Arizona, recorded its 19th consecutive day in which the daily high exceeded 43C, breaking its record of 18 days. Temperatures also climbed to 53C in California’s Death Valley on Monday.
Beijing logged its 28th consecutive day of temperatures running at more than 35C, setting a new record. It came days after a remote township in the country’s north-western Xinjiang region set a national record of 52.5C.
The World Meteorological Organisation said the heatwave in the northern hemisphere was set to intensify.
• One in six London fire engines have been out of use every day in July because of staff shortages, data revealed today. The capital’s only fireboat has also been unavailable for 13 shifts this month, according to figures obtained by the Fire Brigades Union. They show that a year on from the devastating wildfires in parts of London, an average 23 of the city’s 142 engines are unavailable each day due to understaffing.