Large-scale forest fires have broken out in Greece — strong winds are causing the fire to spread rapidly

Large-scale forest fires have broken out in several regions of Greece, including near Athens. The fire is spreading rapidly due to strong winds, making it difficult for rescuers to douse it.

Reuters writes about this.

In parts of Spain and France, the situation has worsened again, with villages destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes. In the French region of Var, a fire has burned more than 1 000 hectares. According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nunes, fires in France have burned about 119 000 hectares since the beginning of the year.

At the same time, Greek authorities declared a state of emergency for several areas and warned of the risk of forest fires in the regions of Attica and Evia.

More than 200 people were evacuated by sea from the town of Agios Vasileos, about 80 kilometers from Athens. Another 12 people were rescued from the beach in Porto Germeno by coast guard and fire service boats.

Journalists write that this year there have been record forest fires in the European Union countries, which have exceeded average figures.

• At the end of July, it became known that more than 220 000 people were evacuated due to a forest fire raging in southwestern France. Tens of thousands of people were also evacuated due to other forest fires in France and Spain.
• According to European services, fires have already destroyed more territory in Europe this year than in any year in the past two decades. Scientists link the increasingly frequent heat waves, droughts and large-scale fires to climate change. In addition, in France, high temperatures are already affecting the operation of nuclear power plants and deteriorating the condition of corn crops.

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