Rhodes fires: Thousands evacuated from Rhodes and Corfu

Tourists wait for departing planes at the airportImage source, NICOLAS ECONOMOU/Reuters
Image caption,

Tourists wait for planes after being evacuated because of wildfires in Rhodes, Greece

Thousands of people have been evacuated from the Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu after wildfires broke out.

Greece has been experiencing hot and dry conditions, with temperatures reaching more than 40C, which has caused the wildfires.

People have been evacuated from homes and hotels on the island, amid orange skies, smoke and falling ash.

Holiday companies are now sending planes to Rhodes and Corfu to collect British tourists who are stranded having left their hotels.

Image source, GIOTA LOTSARI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Image caption,

Wildfires are affecting many parts of Greece

Some 19,000 people have been evacuated from the island of Rhodes by land and sea.

Greece's Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection said it was "the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country".

People have been sleeping in sports halls, conference centres and at the airport waiting to find a route home.

Some holiday companies are now sending planes to Rhodes to bring people back to the UK.

Jet 2 has cancelled flights to Rhodes until Sunday and Tui has cancelled flights there until Wednesday.

Greece's fire service described the fires as the most difficult it had ever faced, with the flames worsened by strong winds in the past week.

The wildfires in Rhodes began on Tuesday and smoke took over many tourist areas.

On Sunday evening, Greece's Emergency Communications Service gave evacuation orders for different areas on the island of Corfu - about 1,027km (670 miles) away.

Rhodes and Corfu are very popular with British tourists and hundreds of thousands of Brits visit the islands every year.

Media caption,

Heatwave: Countries around the world hit record breaking temperatures

The fires follow unusually hot temperatures in many parts of Europe.

The US, China and Japan have also experienced intense heat recently.

Scientists have warned for a long time that climate change will increase these periods of very hot, dry weather that also cause wildfires.

If governments around the world do not reduce carbon emissions, temperatures will keep rising.