A severe heatwave continues to scorch southern Europe, with firefighters in Greece and Turkey battling forest fires as temperatures hit record highs, the BBC reports.
In central Greece, temperatures reached 42.4 degrees Celsius on the 27th of July. Firefighters say they have managed to contain the spread of the fire in some areas.
Turkey has also seen record temperatures. Turkey’s Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said the worst-hit areas were currently facing “risky conditions” and it would be several days before the blazes could be brought under control. On the 26th of July, temperatures in the southeastern Turkish town of Silopi reached 50.5 degrees Celsius.
Turkish firefighters have been battling a blaze in the northern province of Karabuk for four days, and last week 10 people died trying to put out the flames in the Eskisehir province. Reuters reports that more than 3,600 people have been evacuated from the two provinces.
Some municipalities have imposed water restrictions,
including in the resort of Cesme on Turkey’s west coast.
In Greece, strong winds are also fanning the flames, and the country has officially requested assistance from the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
Greece’s Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister, Giannis Kefalogiannis, said firefighters had been injured, lives were at risk and homes and forests had been destroyed.
In Crete, firefighters are trying to contain a fire about 20 kilometers wide
that has destroyed forests, beehives, vegetable fields and livestock in its path.
Fires are also raging in Bulgaria, with Reuters reporting that at least 100 fires were burning on July 27. The fire broke out in the Miloslavsk Mountains in western Bulgaria on the 26th of July and has spread to Serbia. The village of Rani Luga has been almost completely destroyed. The Bulgarian Interior Ministry has described the situation as rapidly changing and very serious.
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