Image source, EPA

Wildfires need three things: Fuel, oxygen and heat. On a hot and dry day, something as simple as a spark can ignite a fire.

They can be caused:

• Naturally – ignited by heat from the sun or from a lightning strike, as most are
• By human activity – people have been blamed for causing fires by arson, campfires, not burning debris properly, discarding lit cigarettes, and playing with matches

Once started, a wildfire can spread due to:

• The wind
• Fuel – this includes anything from trees, the underbrush, or grassy fields. During a period of low rainfall or drought, the foliage becomes even drier, meaning a fire will burn even more violently and be more difficult to control
• A slope – a fire goes up an incline very fast because it pre-heats the fuel above it

Read more on how wildfires start and how they can be stopped here.

Azadeh Moshiri
Reporting from Rhodes

Image source, Reuters

Greek fire service spokesman Lt Col Yannis Artopoios says fires have spread further on Rhodes.

Two more villages have now been evacuated: Malona and Masari.

These are small villages, with hundreds of people - not thousands. He says approximately 300 people have been evacuated, but he can't be sure.

He adds the fires there are “a difficult problem“ for firefighters, as they're "strong".

All Thomas Cook customers who had to leave their accommodation in Rhodes over the weekend are now either returning home or staying in another hotel, the travel firm says. None are left in evacuation centres.

Around 50 customers were forced to evacuate due to the wildfires which have hit part of the island, it adds in its statement.

"We are in touch with customers who arrived on the island yesterday to areas unaffected by the fire and they are enjoying their holiday," Thomas Cook says.

The company also says it's extending its full-refund policy for anyone who doesn't want to travel to the island, up to and including this Wednesday.

Alex Homer
BBC News

Image source, Emily Brittan

Andrew and Emily Brittan, from Tamworth in the UK, flew out to Rhodes for a cousin’s wedding on Saturday. They were due to have their honeymoon afterwards, having got married themselves earlier this year.

Their flight from East Midlands Airport was delayed by 40 minutes, but they were assured it was safe to travel.

After a news blackout while they were in the air, they saw fires raging on Rhodes from the window of their plane as they arrived.

They had been due to travel on to Pefkos, but after the “chaos” of the airport, they were taken by coach to an evacuation camp instead. They returned to Birmingham Airport shortly after 09:00 BST today.

Andrew, 27, said it was thanks to local people they had food and drinks while there.

Emily, also 27, said they felt “all the emotions” now they were home: sadness that they'd not had their dream honeymoon, frustration at the lack of information they received, but also relief to be safe.

If you're just joining us, here's the latest on the situation in Greece:

• Fires are still raging in several parts of Greece, especially the tourist island of Rhodes
• Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told parliament there were “three difficult days ahead of us” before forecasters expect the temperature to drop on the island
• Several holidaymakers stranded in fire-struck regions have told us about their experience: many praised locals who offered help, but criticised travel operators for their poor responses to the emergency
• Several airlines, including EasyJet and Jet2, are operating evacuation flights between Rhodes and the UK this week
• Fires in Corfu are said to be under relative control, according to Greek officials
• The UK government has defended its decision to not put in place any specific warning about travelling to Greece

Returning to the UK for a moment, Downing Street has defended not discouraging British tourists from going to Rhodes, after sending a team to the island to help people stranded by the fires.

Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said the government's advice was focused on people's safety and enabling them to make "an informed decision" about the situation on the ground.

"The current situation is impacting on a limited area in Rhodes and whilst it's right to keep it under review and it's possible that the advice may change, we do not want to act out of proportion to the situation on the ground," he said.

The No 10 spokesman also said there were "not currently" any plans to use the Royal Air Force to help people leave Rhodes.

Jenny Hill
Reporting from Rhodes

A charred parasol lies on the sand of Glystra beach where just a few days ago tourists lay on sunbeds, watching people playing on paddleboards hired from the local water sports company.

Now it’s all destroyed and still smouldering.

As we filmed its owner arrived to survey the damage, resigned to the loss.

But as we chatted, strong winds blew ash into our faces and then the news came that the fire was spreading again.

We’re driving back along the 95, the main motorway back to the north of the island, and thick smoke is now obscuring the tree-covered hills to the west of the carriageway.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Foreign Office to add Rhodes to to its "red list" - and advise British nationals against all but essential travel.

“Thanks to Conservative ministers’ inaction, many families are unable to make a claim against their insurance - leaving them paying the penalty for deciding not to fly out to the island," the party's foreign affairs spokesperson says in a statement.

There have been some slightly mixed messages today on whether or not to travel to the affected islands.

Currently, there are no warnings against travel from the UK government. But the Foreign Office does say before travelling you should check with your travel operator or hotel. The full guidance is here., external

Foreign Minister Andrew Mitchell earlier said the advice on travel was being looked at hourly. British tourists who had to evacuate where they were staying over the weekend are due be flown back to the UK later today. The first repatriation flights have arrived on the island, with more scheduled for later today.

Tourism makes up a large part of Greece's economy. Earlier, the country's tourism minister Olga Kefalogianni was eager to point out that most of the island was not affected by wildfires, and that tourists who had planned trips to Rhodes should still make their way there. As for Corfu - she said the situation there was "not alarming".

Other officials on Rhodes have painted a slightly different picture. The island's deputy mayor earlier said fires were still out of control, and that it was difficult for tourists and locals to know exactly where the wildfires were located on the island.

For those of you who have booked to go to Rhodes, you might be wondering whether or not you should still travel.

Here's what the airlines are currently saying.

Be aware that, in general, if your flight or holiday is still scheduled to operate but you don’t want to go any more, there’s no automatic entitlement to a refund.

Some airlines are continuing to fly tourists out to Rhodes as normal like Ryanair. It's currently offering no flexibility for customers wanting to move to another date.

Tui has cancelled flights for today and tomorrow. Passengers with a Wednesday flight can change to another holiday or cancel their booking.

EasyJet is offering some flexibility for customers to move to another date.

Jet2 has cancelled all holidays to Rhodes until 30 July and says it's in contact with customers about refunds.

Thomas Cook says customers who are booked to travel to Rhodes tomorrow and want to cancel can do so and will get a full refund. It's cancelled all holidays to Kiotari and Lardos until 31 July.

British Airways is operating as usual to Rhodes - but notes that it isn't one of the main airlines that regularly flies to the island. It says if customers there need to come home early they can change their flight for free. And, any customers flying from the UK within the next week can reschedule to a later date for no additional charge.

Image source, Katie Piercefield-Holmes

We just heard from some people who decided to stay put. One of them is Katie Piercefield-Holmes and her family.

Ms Piercefield-Holmes, from Newmarket in Suffolk, said she had woken up “every half hour” on Saturday night and was packed and ready to run to the beach.

She said it was “like something out of a movie, with abandoned suitcases everywhere”.

When a nearby tree caught fire she was ready to leave, but her husband decided it was safer for the family to stay put.

“Now we are happy we made that decision,” she said, although she said the holiday had become more like a “survival exercise”.

Hamzah Abbas
BBC News

Simon Lockton, who is currently on Rhodes, says he is planning to complete his holiday.

He told the BBC that he "doesn't want to stress the children out," and that "it's a holiday that they will never forget."

His daughter has chronic asthma, so they were relocated from the hotel that they were staying at to a private college.

He described returning to the original hotel to pick up their luggage as "eerie," as it had been damaged by the fire but was still standing.

He plans to return to the UK on Wednesday, as originally scheduled.

Image source, Caryn Savazzi

A British family evacuated from their hotel in Rhodes are the beneficiaries of some of the Greek hospitality mentioned in our last post.

They say a local family's offer of shelter has "resorted their faith in human kindness."

Caryn Savazzi and her family, from South Wales, landed on the Greek island on Saturday, but the hotel they were due to stay in was evacuated before they arrived.

Like other Britons we have heard from, the family was escorted to a school - where a local family offered them shelter.

• Read more here

Hundreds of local people on Rhodes have taken in stranded holidaymakers as they wait to be evacuated from the island, a Greek-British man living there says.

George Tsuchnikas earlier told BBC Radio 4 he was sheltering two German families of three, a Norwegian couple, another couple from Sweden, as well as four people from Ireland.

He said residents and tourists were "devastated and tired", and criticised a lack of communication and information for everyone affected.

Tsuchnikas said he thought people were coping "as well as they can, including the people in my house".

Image source, Reuters

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has just made a statement in parliament.

He says there are "three difficult days ahead of us" before forecasters expect the temperature to drop in Rhodes, but for the remaining weeks "we should all be on constant alert".

"In Rhodes, after the second day, there were some signs of remission," Mitsotakis says. "But later, the flames covered rapidly a huge area, at the same time when 15 fire-fighting airplanes were operating and tens of fire trucks."

Mitsotakis goes on to say: "This battle is uneven, and it will keep being like that for as long as the conditions remain hard. We’re at war with the fire and we will rebuild everything lost, will compensate anyone affected."

He says that Rhodes will remain the country's "flagship" for tourism, adding that only 10% of tourists on the island have been affected by the wildfires.

Katy Austin
Travel correspondent

Right now, there’s nothing to stop airlines selling flights to Rhodes.

Some point out the wildfires are not affecting the whole island.

Easyjet is offering some flexibility, allowing customers who've booked to travel to or from Rhodes until 29 July the option to change to another date. It’s also put on a few extra flights back to the UK.

Ryanair is continuing to fly in and out of Rhodes as normal, and isn’t currently offering flexibility.

In general, if your flight or holiday is still scheduled to operate but you don’t want to go any more, there’s no automatic entitlement to a refund.

However, ABTA (the trade body for tour operators and travel agents) points out you should check with the operator you booked with, because different companies are taking different approaches.

It remains a fast-moving situation.

Image source, Reuters

Rhodes is still battling fires on the island that started last week. Here's how their reach has been spreading with the help of strong winds - including over the last 24 hours.

Image source, Google

Justin Rowlatt
Climate editor

Image source, Reuters

There are reports that some fires may have been started by arsonists, but southern Europe's extended heatwave has helped create the dry conditions that make it easier for flames to take hold and spread.

We are expecting a study that should give us an estimate of how much global warming has increased the likelihood of a heatwave like this, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

But we know that globally, heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent because of climate change.

That is because human activity has pushed up the average global temperature by around 1.1C, compared with pre-industrial levels.

Temperatures have always varied between years, of course. But raising the average temperature means the extremes now move around a higher base.

That is particularly true in Europe, which is the fastest warming continent of the world and has warmed by nearly twice the global average.

Europe is about 2.3C above pre-industrial levels, according to the UN’s weather and climate service, the World Meteorological Organization, and as a result experiences significantly less extreme cold and more extreme heat.

Airline Jet2 also says all flights and holidays up to Sunday 30 July on Rhodes have been cancelled, and all flights out to the island will be empty so that customers can be brought back to the UK.

The first repatriation flight took place yesterday, and the company says it has "significantly increased" its presence on the island, including at evacuation centres, resorts and the airport.

Three repatriation flights to return hundreds of UK holidaymakers from Rhodes are planned by Jet2 this evening.

The travel company adds that a flight carrying 95 people landed at Leeds Bradford Airport late on Sunday evening.

One more repatriation flight will depart for Manchester, a second to Leeds Bradford and a third for Birmingham later this evening, the travel company says.

These are in addition to over 50 scheduled flights operating between Rhodes and the UK this week, the company adds.