Intense heat at the Olympics threatens athletes 3:15
Kefalonia, Greece (CNN) -
Extreme heat and wildfires continued to affect parts of southern Europe on Wednesday, a day after the maximum temperature in Greece reached 47.2 degrees Celsius, just shy of the highest. never registered in Europe.
Greece is facing one of its worst heat waves in decades and the country remains on high alert as it continues to fight fires across the country.
Heat advisories have also been issued for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.
Deadly forest fires have swept through parts of Turkey in recent days, forcing resorts to evacuate.
Residents of the Greek capital Athens were warned to stay indoors with windows closed due to poor air quality after a forest fire broke out in the northern suburbs of the capital on Tuesday.
Extreme heat forced the Ministry of Culture to close the Acropolis and other ancient sites from noon to 5 p.m. local this week.
A man cools off with water during the heat wave in Thessaloniki, Greece, on July 29.
(Photo: SAKIS MITROLIDIS / AFP via Getty Images)
Greece's Fire Service said Wednesday it had been called in to intervene in 78 wildfires in the past 24 hours.
A fire on the large island of Evia, northeast of Athens, was burning brightly Wednesday.
Wildfires also continued to burn in parts of Turkey on Tuesday, fueled by extreme heat.
At least eight people had died as a result of the fires in Mugla and Antalya provinces as of Tuesday, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
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The heat wave in the region comes on the heels of last week's devastating wildfires in Spain, Greece and the Italian island of Sardinia, and less than a month after catastrophic floods in northern Europe took more toll 200 lives.
Experts say that abnormal weather events such as floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as the recent heat wave and wildfires in Canada and the United States, are a sign of the impacts of climate change.
Droughts are becoming more frequent and more severe in southern Europe, and environmental authorities have warned that the region is at greater risk from the impacts of climate change on the continent.
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CNN forecasters said the region's current heat wave would last at least until Friday, with peak heat coming Tuesday and Wednesday for Greece.
Temperatures were expected to be 10 degrees above average again on Wednesday, to more than 40 degrees Celsius, in Greece and western Turkey.
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), an EU program, said on Wednesday that the Mediterranean region was becoming a "wildfire hot spot" and warned that fires that were already burning were emitting large amounts. smoke into the atmosphere.
Residents watch a Greek Army Chinook helicopter collect water as firefighters continue to attack a forest fire near the Greek village of Lambiri on Sunday.
"In Turkey and southern Italy, CAMS data shows that emissions and intensity of forest fires are increasing rapidly, and countries such as Morocco, Albania, Greece, North Macedonia and Lebanon are also affected," he said in a press release.
"Smoke plumes from the fires are clearly visible in satellite images crossing the eastern Mediterranean basin from southern Turkey."
'Extremely difficult fire'
In Greece, more than 200 places hit 40 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
The maximum temperature of 47.2 ° C, recorded in Langadas in Thessaloniki, was less than one degree from the European all-time record of 48 ° C recorded in Athens, Greece, in 1977.
Greece's meteorological service warned that the risk of the fire remained very high Wednesday and Thursday.
"The prolonged hot conditions that prevail in our country have increased the flammability of dead fuel to extremely high levels in almost the entire territory, making any use of fire extremely dangerous," he said.
The fire outside Athens is largely under control, but fears persist that it could reappear, according to authorities.
Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday that no lives were lost and that the emergency evacuation system had worked.
He stressed that the next few days will be crucial due to the heat wave and that everyone must remain on alert.
Several residential areas have been evacuated, according to the Greek Fire Service.
As the fire spread north of the capital Tuesday, authorities urged residents to leave the Athens suburbs of Varimpompi, Adames and Thrakomakedones, as well as the Olympic village.
The fire also threatened the Royal Palace of Tatoi.
Firefighters also battled heavy fires on the Greek islands of Kos and Evia, as well as on the Peloponnese peninsula, while some residents were evacuating.
"The hours are critical and the conditions we face are extremely dangerous," Greek Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias said on Tuesday.
"Our country is experiencing an extreme weather phenomenon in recent days, one of the worst heat waves in the last 40 years."
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Updating reporters on the Athens area fire on Wednesday, Hardalias said an initial estimate was that 76 homes and 27 businesses had been seriously damaged.
More than 70 people have been taken to hospital for respiratory problems since Tuesday, Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias added.
A man drives his cattle away from a raging fire on August 2 in Mugla, Marmaris district, as the European Union sent aid to Turkey and volunteers joined firefighters.
(Photo: YASIN AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images)
'European solidarity'
The European Commission said it was working around the clock to mobilize support for firefighting operations in the worst affected countries.
Two firefighting jets will be dispatched from France to affected areas in Italy on Wednesday, it said in a press release, and two firefighting jets from Cyprus are supporting Greece.
The Netherlands and the Czech Republic are sending helicopters to Albania, and Slovenia is deploying 45 firefighters in North Macedonia, he added.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that she was following the situation with great concern.
"European solidarity is working to fight these terrible fires. We are with you," he said.
A series of forest fires are burning in eastern and northeastern North Macedonia, according to the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC), forcing the city of Kochani to evacuate.
Albania has suffered more than 120 fires in recent weeks following sustained high temperatures, and the Vlora region faces the most critical situation, the ERCC said.
A firefighter talks to his colleague as they work to put out fires in Cugliari, near Oristano, on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, Italy, on July 26.
Italian farmers' association Coldiretti said Wednesday that its analysis of fire data indicated that large fires had tripled in the summer of 2021 compared to the historical average from 2008 to 2020, causing millions of dollars worth of damage. euros to the environment, the economy, work and tourism.
The flames have incinerated tens of thousands of hectares of Mediterranean forests and scrub across the country, he said, leaving behind dead animals and charred trees, olive groves and pastures, as well as threatening urban areas.
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'The situation is very serious'
Meanwhile, Turkey was fighting 11 fires in six provinces as of Tuesday, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli tweeted on his official account.
A total of 152 fires in 32 provinces have been controlled in Turkey in the past six days, he said.
Speaking at a government press conference in Marmaris, Pakdemirli said that the Marmaris district of Mugla province had experienced a historic high temperature of 43.5 degrees Celsius with very low humidity (less than 10%) and a speed of 65-kilometer-per-hour wind.
A firefighter fights a massive forest fire that engulfed a Mediterranean resort region on Turkey's southern coast near the city of Manavgat on July 29.
This above-average wildfire season is projected to continue into September, or perhaps longer
More than 2,000 houses have been damaged in Antalya and another 347 in Mugla, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said at the press conference.
The mayor of Milas, a city in southwestern Turkey, said flames from the ongoing fires had reached near a power plant Tuesday night.
"The situation is very serious," said the mayor, Muhammet Tokat.
"The flames came near a thermal power plant. If possible, a night vision plane or helicopter should head to the area immediately."
CNN's Chris Liakos reported from Cephalonia and Isil Sariyuce from Istanbul, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Sharon Braithwaite, Taylor Ward, Monica Garrett, and Livia Borghese contributed to this report.
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