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The Greek authorities are investigating whether wildfires that threatened to engulf Athens were sparked by a single arsonist.
Civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias said officials verified indications that the fire near Athens was the result of arson as well as extreme weather conditions.
A fire service spokesman has said the force is struggling to deal with the spate of blazes, adding: “Almost every 10 minutes a new fire breaks out.”
In Koropi, a storage facility and at least one home were burned, and flames crept into a boat dry dock and across fields of dry grass and olive trees. Authorities evacuated two nearby villages.
Amid the heatwave, several foreign tourists have died or gone missing while hiking in high temperatures. The girlfriend of a missing American tourist has criticised Greek authorities for allegedly doing little to help search for him.
Albert Calibet, 59, has been missing since last Tuesday while hiking on the island of Amorgos.
At least five tourists have been found dead on the Greek Islands in recent weeks.
Have you been affected by this? Email barney.davis.ind@independent.co.uk
American tourist found dead as death toll rises
A 55-year-old American has been found dead on the Greek island of Mathraki, the police said on Monday, the fifth tourist death in recent weeks following a period of unusually hot weather.
Police did not share the identity of the dead American, whose body was found near a beach on Mathraki on Sunday. He was transferred to the island of Corfu where an autopsy will be carried out, a police official told Reuters.
A 74-year-old Dutch tourist was found dead on the island of Samos on Saturday and two hikers were found dead on Crete on June 5.Rescue teams were also searching for two French women, aged 73 and 64, on the island of Sikinos, and a 59-year-old US policeman on Amorgos.
Temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) earlier this month, just as the holiday season began across Greece’s remote beaches, ancient sites and mountain trails.
“There is a common pattern - they all went for a hike amid high temperatures,” Petros Vassilakis, the police spokesman for the Southern Aegean, told Reuters.
Athena Stavrou18 June 2024 07:30
Recap: Huge blaze closes town near Athens as Greece prepares for wildfire season
Firefighters and aircraft in Greece battled a blaze in the town just 30 kilometres south of Athens on Wednesday.
Strong winds fanned the flames and forced residents in Koropi to flee their homes and businesses.
Traffic was suspended along a main highway connecting Koropi to Athens suburbs. One storage facility was on fire and flames crept into a boat dry dock and across fields of dry grass and olive trees, images on local TV showed.
Rich Booth reports:
Tara Cobham21 June 2024 06:00
Last 12 months rank as warmest on record in year-on-year comparisons
The worldwide heatwaves are occurring against a backdrop of 12 consecutive months that have ranked as the warmest on record in year-on-year comparisons, according to the European Union's climate change monitoring service.
The World Meteorological Organization says there is an 86 per cent chance that one of the next five years will eclipse 2023 to become the warmest on record.
While overall global temperatures have risen by nearly 1.3 C (2.3 F) above pre-industrial levels, climate change is fuelling more extreme temperature peaks - making heatwaves more common, more intense and longer-lasting.
On average globally, a heatwave that would have occurred once in 10 years in the pre-industrial climate will now occur 2.8 times over 10 years, and it will be 1.2 C warmer, according to an international team of scientists with the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group.
Scientists say heatwaves will continue to intensify if the world continues to unleash climate-warming emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
If the world hits 2 C (3.6 F) of global warming, heatwaves would on average occur 5.6 times in 10 years and be 2.6 C (4.7 F) hotter, according to the WWA.
Tara Cobham21 June 2024 05:00
Recap: A wildfire on the fringes of the Greek capital triggers evacuation alerts
Scores of Greek firefighters and water-bombing aircraft were trying to contain a large wildfire on the fringes of Athens that forced authorities to issue evacuation orders on Wednesday for two nearby settlements.
Television footage showed flames coursing through low scrub and olive trees in a sparsely inhabited area near Vari, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of central Athens.
Fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said the blaze spread very fast due to strong winds that at times reached gale force.
Read more here:
Tara Cobham21 June 2024 04:00
Countries around Mediterranean endure another week of blistering high temperatures
Countries around the Mediterranean have endured another week of blistering high temperatures that have contributed to forest fires from Portugal to Greece and along the northern coast of Africa in Algeria, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth Observatory.
Europe this year has been contending with a spate of dead and missing tourists amid dangerous heat. A 55-year-old American was found dead on the Greek island of Mathraki, police said on Monday - the third such tourist death in a week.
In Serbia, meteorologists forecast temperatures of around 40 C (104 F) this week as winds from North Africa propelled a hot front across the Balkans. Health authorities declared a red weather alert and advised people not to venture outdoors.
Belgrade's emergency service said its doctors intervened 109 times overnight to treat people with heart and chronic health conditions.
In neighbouring Montenegro, where health authorities also warned people to stay in the shade until late afternoon, tens of thousands of tourists sought refreshment on the beaches along its Adriatic coast.
Tara Cobham21 June 2024 03:00
Red weather warning issued for parts of Europe as Greece put on fire alert
People in the scorching temperatures sought relief in Belgrade’s Ada Ciganlija lake, fountains and cafes on Thursday while the Serbian government ordered employers to protect outdoor workers from the heatwave.
Meteorologists forecast temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) throughout Serbia this week as winds from North Africa pushed a hot and dry front across the Balkans.
Health authorities and meteorologists declared a “red” weather alert and advised people not to venture outside. Belgrade’s emergency service said its doctors intervened more than 100 times overnight, mainly treating people with heart and chronic conditions.
Rich Booth and Aleksandar Vasovic report:
Tara Cobham21 June 2024 02:00
In pictures: Wildfires engulf parts of Greece
Tara Cobham21 June 2024 01:00
Greece prepares for wildfire season
Firefighters and aircraft in Greece battled a blaze in the town just 30 kilometres south of Athens on Wednesday.
Strong winds fanned the flames and forced residents in Koropi to flee their homes and businesses. Traffic was suspended along a main highway connecting Koropi to Athens suburbs. One storage facility was on fire and flames crept into a boat dry dock and across fields of dry grass and olive trees, images on local TV showed.
The fire is one of many so far this season, with more expected throughout the summer.
Rich Booth has the full story:
Tara Cobham21 June 2024 00:00
Gale force winds and tinderbox like conditions spread fires easily
Scores of Greek firefighters and water-bombing aircraft succeeded late Wednesday in taming a large wildfire on the fringes of Athens that forced authorities to evacuate two nearby settlements.
Summer wildfires also plagued Greece’s Mediterranean neighbor Turkey, where two villages were evacuated but no injuries were reported.
The Greek fire service said the blaze near Athens — one of dozens all over the country Wednesday — had been largely contained but firefighters would remain on alert all evening to stop it reviving.
Officials said the wildfire was exacerbated by windy, hot and dry weather and appeared to have been deliberately started.
It broke out in low scrub and olive trees in a sparsely inhabited area near Vari, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of central Athens.
Fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said winds at times reached gale force, while police were enlisted to remove some residents from their homes.
Barney Davis20 June 2024 23:00
Greece at the frontline of battle against climate change
Greece is on the frontline in the world’s battle against climate change, being hit by extreme heat and flooding in the space of just a few weeks last year. It recorded its longest heatwave on record, lasting 16 days, in July 2023. The high temperatures fuelled wildfires across the country that saw locals and tourists evacuated.
The minister responsible for civil protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said the last week has posed a particular wildfire risk due to the combination of high temperatures and winds. “The early start of the heatwaves, combined with the dry winter, has led to a very difficult fire season,” he said.
A total of 44 agricultural fires were reported by the fire service last Thursday alone.
Barney Davis20 June 2024 22:00
