Separately,two wildfires that began overnight near the western Turkish resort of Izmir were raging out of control on Thursday, fuelled by high winds, officials said, in comments reported by AFP.
“Strong winds are making firefighting efforts difficult in Izmir,” Turkey’s forestry directorate said on X asaerial firefighting planes and helicopters resumed their sorties at sunrise.
Locals in at leastfive districts in the two areas were evacuatedas a precaution but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Since Friday,hundreds of fires have been reported across drought-hit Turkey, fuelled by high winds, AFP noted.
On Monday,more than 50,000 people were evacuated,mostly in the Izmir area but also from the southern province of Hatay, the AFAD disaster management agency said.
More than1,500 people were evacuated from hotels and homes overnight on Creteas firefighters are fighting a fast-spreading wildfire on the southern coast of theGreekisland.
Over 230 firefighters are involvedfighting multiple outbreaks posing a “very difficult” overall picturefor the emergency services, the Greek fire brigade said inan update on Thursday morning.
A separate fire broke out inHalkidikiregion ofGreece, with 160 firefighters and 49 vehicles involved in emergency response, the fire service said.
The service warned that the country was entering“the most difficult month of the fire season,”with strong winds contributing to their spread.
Separate wildfires were reported inGermany, where at least two were seriously injured and over 100reportedlyevacuated in a forest fire inSaxony,and inSpain.
The fires come asEurope continues to face extreme weather conditions, withSpain,Italy,Austria,Hungary,Slovakia,PolandandCroatiaall expected to report temperatures in mid-30s today.
I will bring you all the latest here.
It’sThursday, 2 July 2025, it’sJakub Krupahere, and this isEurope Live.
Good morning.