UK, US Warn Travelers About Fires, Heatwaves in Greece

Photo Source: European Commission / Photo © Hellenic Fire Corps (photographer: George Chionidis)

The UK Foreign Office has issued a travel alert for Greece and Spain advising people to be wary of the extreme weather conditions caused by persistent heatwaves.

At the same time, the US Embassy in Greece has alerted US citizens of the high risk of wildfires in many regions across the country. “US citizens should exercise extreme caution in the affected areas…  Wildfires may create additional disruptions in the wider areas, such as power and/or water outages, poor air quality, and road closures, which may include some of the roads to the Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos,” it said.

In the meantime, fire forces in Greece continued their efforts to put out dozens of blazes across the country on Wednesday for a third consecutive day.

New fires broke out on the island of Rhodes and in Igoumenitsa, and blazes rekindled around Loutraki and in Western Attica right outside Athens leading to the evacuation of towns and villages, including Mandra and Nea Peramos, near the country’s oil refineries.

Extremely high temperatures and gale force winds are complicating firefighting efforts. According to the Copernicus mapping system, fires in Eastern Attica have burnt some 3,500 hectares of woodland so far.

Areas in red – burnt forests and other types of land in and near Attica, Greece between August 2019 and July 2023. Source: European Commission / GWIS.

To assist Greece after it activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on Tuesday, the European Union said it would be deploying four firefighting planes from France and Italy as well as firefighters from Poland, Romania and Slovakia in addition to crews from Romania, Bulgaria and Malta. Israel has also said it will send two firefighting planes to Greece.

“We are experiencing a heatwave across Southern Europe already causing devastating consequences in Greece, with thousands of hectares burned in a short period of time,” said European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič.

“The EU’s fast response is essential in this situation and I thank these five countries for their solidarity to Greece. However, it is important to continue to invest in prevention and to enhance the wildfire risk awareness of the population,” said Lenarčič.

July 19: The European Commission mobilised further support to Greece via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as wildfires continue to rage in the Attica region. Source: European Commission

Meanwhile, Greek authorities are closing off main roads and taking emergency traffic measures and bans as part of firefighting or prevention operations.

“I ask everyone to support and assist the efforts of the Fire Brigade so that they can do their duty. We must do this and we must be very cautious, negligence is not permissible, causing a fire through negligence is unthinkable,” said Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias earlier today.

At the same time, German news site Der Spiegel is warning of the impact ongoing fires can have on tourism primarily in Southern Europe as more and more travelers are turning away from destinations with high temperatures.

New heatwave expected in Greece, up to 45 degrees Celsius 

A new heatwave is expected to hit Greece tomorrow (Thursday) with temperatures expected to rise up to 45 degrees Celsius (113°F). Most of Southern Europe will be affected.

In 2021, forests fires ravaged the northwest Athens suburb of Varibobi and Evia island and in July 2018, 101 people lost their lives after a fire destroyed the seaside resort town of Mati.

The General Secretariat for Civil Protection informs residents and travelers to take heed of the following advice in case of fire.