Rhodes: Greece braced for a new wave of soaring temperatures Tuesday, as wildfires raged on several popular tourist islands, forcing mass evacuations.
\nIn the capital city of Athens the mercury is expected to soar to 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit), and reach up to 44C in central Greece, according to the national weather forecaster EMY.
\nMany regions of the country were on \u201cred alert,\u201d meaning there is an extreme risk of dangerous forest fires exacerbated by strong winds.
\nThe very hot weather comes after a weekend of intense heat as thousands of locals and tourists fled forest fires on the Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu, with the prime minister warning the heat-battered nation is \u201cat war\u201d with the flames.
\nAuthorities evacuated nearly 2,500 people from the Greek island of Corfu on Monday, after tens of thousands of people had already fled blazes on the island of Rhodes, with many frightened tourists scrambling to get home on evacuation flights.
\nMore than 260 firefighters were still battling flames for an eighth consecutive day on Rhodes, supported by two helicopters and two planes.
\nFires were also raging on Greece\u2019s second largest island of Evia, where Greek civil protection authorities issued an overnight evacuation order in one northern locality.
\nThe mercury hit 46.4C in Gythio, in the southern Peloponnese peninsula on Sunday, though failed to reach the hottest temperature nationally on record of 48C.
\n\u201cWe are at war and are exclusively geared toward the fire front,\u201d Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament on Monday.
\nHe warned that the country faced \u201canother three difficult days ahead\u201d before high temperatures are forecast to ease.
\nThe severe heatwave in Greece has also been reflected across much of southern Europe and Northern Africa.
\nIn Algeria at least 34 people have died as wildfires raged through residential areas, forcing mass evacuations.
\nIn southeastern France officials Monday issued a fire warning at the highest level in the Bouches-du-Rhone region, warning that the weather conditions make the risk of flames \u201cvery high compared to normal summers.\u201d
\nThe exceptional temperatures in Greece have forced key tourist sites such as the Acropolis in Athens to close at the hottest times of the day.
\nVassilis Kikilias, Greece\u2019s civil protection minister, said crews had battled over 500 fires around the country for 12 straight days.
\nThe fires are particularly devastating on very touristic islands such as Rhodes and Corfu where the season is in full swing and hotels are often full.
\nVolunteers had come to the aid of foreign tourists in the north of the island where nearly 200 people are still camped out at a school after being evacuated from the fires on Saturday.
\nSchool director Kyriakos Kyriakoulis told AFP that dozens of local volunteers and school staff had come forward to help those stranded.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t believe they are so nice, they gave so much in every way,\u201d said 69-year-old British tourist Christine Moody, who was spending her first vacation in Greece when the fires hit.
\n\u201cI am very moved,\u201d she said.
\nIn the village of Vati, in the southeast of the island, local mayor Vassilis Kalabodakis said that the impact on the region was \u201ctragic.\u201d
\n\u201cThe village has been ordered to evacuate but we can\u2019t abandon it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are leading the fight to protect our home.\u201d
\nScientists from the World Weather Attribution group said Tuesday that the heatwaves that have hit parts of Europe and North America this month would have been almost impossible without human-caused climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rhodes: Greece braced for a new wave of soaring temperatures Tuesday, as wildfires raged on several popular tourist islands, forcing mass evacuations. In the capital city of Athens the mercury is expected to soar to 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit), and reach up to 44C in central Greece, according to the national weather forecaster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-345310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n