Greek Islands Burn as Record European Heat Forecast for Italy

Wildfires are raging across Greece after about 19,000 people were evacuated from the island of Rhodes over the weekend, while record temperatures are forecast for Sardinia.

(Bloomberg) — Wildfires are raging across Greece after about 19,000 people were evacuated from the island of Rhodes over the weekend, while record temperatures are forecast for Sardinia.

Over the past 24 hours, 162 fires have been reported across Greece amid high winds and extreme heat. The Greek Coast Guard, which led efforts to rescue tourists and locals from Rhodes, also helped evacuate 59 people from a beach in northern Corfu last night as another blaze threatened.

Extreme weather is devastating southern Europe this summer, from hailstorms and a tornado in Italy, to heavy rainfall and strong winds that left several dead in parts of western Balkans. A record temperature of 50C is forecast for the south of the Italian island of Sardinia on Monday, which would eclipse the European high of 48.8C, set in Sicily two years ago.

Following the hottest ever June, temperature records are being broken from the US to China. Climate change, triggered by fossil fuel emissions, is raising the intensity and duration of summer heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere, raising questions over whether swathes of the planet are becoming uninhabitable.

Flight cancellations left tourists stranded on the Greek island of Rhodes as the European Commission, the UK, France and Italy helped assist in the firefighting and rescue efforts.

Eight jets and 10 helicopters are supported efforts to quell the fire on Rhodes.

Tourists are scrambling to get out of Rhodes altogether, with some sheltering in schools and hotel conference spaces, and airlines struggling to arrange enough return flights.

EasyJet Plc is providing two repatriation flights on Monday from Rhodes. Leisure carrier Jet2 Plc also said it would send the empty planes to the area to bring customers back to the UK.

TUI AG scrapped flights to Rhodes through July 25 and said it was sending in additional support staff for customers on the island. Ryanair Holdings Plc is allowing customers to book on earlier flights out of Rhodes free of charge.

Rhodes is particularly popular with British visitors, who accounted for nearly a quarter of all international air arrivals in June, according to data from Rhodes Airport. Germans and Poles were the second and third-largest groups to arrive by air last month.

The Greek civil protection ministry said the evacuation was the largest in the country’s history caused by a wildfire.

Temperatures in parts of Greece are expected to climb back up to 46C on Tuesday.

Cooler weather is set to continue in Northern Europe with temperatures in the UK, Germany, France and Nordic countries below seasonal averages. London will peak at 18C, 5C below seasonal averages according to forecaster Maxar Technologies Inc.

–With assistance from Kate Duffy.

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