Ferocious winds are driving wildfires across Greece, including areas close to Athens, as firefighters mount large-scale operations and authorities order emergency evacuations.
The renewed danger comes as fire conditions also deteriorated again in parts of Spain and France.
After successive record-breaking heatwaves and scant rainfall, Europe has endured a punishing summer of wildfires.
In France and Spain, villages have been destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee homes and holiday accommodation.
Across Greece, blazes fuelled by gale-force winds erupted in multiple locations, marking a sharp escalation for a country that until recent days had seen fewer heatwaves and a comparatively calm fire season.
In France, a wildfire in the mountainous southeastern Var department that had been brought under control three days earlier flared up again yesterday, racing through more than 1,000 hectares in six hours, BFM TV reported.
Nearly 2,500 people were evacuated overnight, and firefighters brought in reinforcements today as winds were forecast to strengthen, making containment efforts more difficult.
French firefighters pump water out of a house’s swimming pool during a wildfire in southeastern France
Spanish conditions mixed
Spain continued to confront several wildfire hot spots, two days after the government announced the end of a national emergency triggered by huge fires in the country’s central provinces.
Authorities said conditions worsened in the northern province of Leon, where a new blaze ignited last night, another remained active and a third was developing in a favourable direction.
In neighbouring Zamora province, a fire that scorched about 11,000 hectares eased enough for 14 evacuated towns to reopen and for restrictions to be lifted.
Farther east in Castellon, the Vall d’Uixo fire was stabilised on its seventh day after burning nearly 10,000 hectares, clearing the way for all evacuated residents to return. Police said they suspected arson after locating two separate ignition points.
Major fires in the central regions of Madrid and Avila, which burned more than 70,000 hectares, were stabilised, although a fresh outbreak near the San Juan reservoir was put out yesterday.
Emergency alerts
In Greece, officials issued emergency alerts for several areas today, warning of an extreme wildfire risk in the regions of Attica and Evia.
More than 300 firefighters backed by 92 firefighting trucks, heavy machinery and aircraft have kept fighting a major blaze in Boeotia. Over 200 people from the town of Agios Vasileios, about 80km northwest of Athens, were forced to evacuate by sea.
Greek Coast Guard patrol boats and a Fire Service vessel also evacuated another 12 people who fled the same fire to the beach in Porto Germeno.
Overnight firefighting operations continued as well in the regions of Argolida and Arta.
In Austria, the Agency for Health and Food Safety reported a record 395 heat-related deaths for the month of June.
About half of Austria’s weather stations recorded temperatures of at least 35C during June, and 15 stations registered 39C or higher.
Earlier this week, the UK said an estimated 2,877 people in Britain had died from heat-related causes so far this year. France reported 5,764 excess deaths between 17 June and 2 July, while Germany’s RKI health body estimated 9,800 deaths so far this year linked to high temperatures.
Power output hit
Record-low water levels along the Danube — which runs from Germany to the Black Sea — have reduced nuclear power production in Hungary and hydropower generation in Serbia.
River transport has also been disrupted in Hungary, Serbia and Romania, with barges forced to sharply cut cargo to navigate narrowing shipping lanes. Serbia’s fuel imports dropped to a quarter of its July target as barges and tankers reduced loads.
Romania’s state nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica ROSNN.BX shut down one of its two reactors earlier this week because of low river levels, and the second could soon follow — potentially leaving the country without a fifth of its electricity needs.
