Extreme fire risk warnings have been issued for several regions in southern Greece, as extreme temperatures and high winds threaten to spark more devastating wildfires.
Reports say fire broke out at the weekend, prompting thousands of residents to be evacuated, with Alexandroupoli, close to the north-eastern border with Turkey experiencing one of the worst fire fronts.
Greece’s fire service said in a statement that fires have been burning for several days there, and 13 communities near the city were evacuated “for the safety of the citizens”,
According to the report, fires were also burning in the eastern Rhodope region and the northern city of Kavala.
France, Cyprus and Romania have sent reinforcements to help Greek firefighters.
Summer wildfires are common in Greece but scientists have linked the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including heatwave, to climate change.
It would be recalled that thousands of people were forced to flee fires on the Greek island of Rhodes last month, after wildfires broke out there and in other parts of the country.
BBC News