ATHENS (AFP)
Greece was battling several wildfires on Sunday, with smoke covering parts of the capital, Athens, in a haze amid warnings for extreme weather conditions for the rest of the week.
The country's minister for civil protection had warned a day earlier that half the country was under a high-risk warning for fires due to high temperatures, wind gusts and drought conditions.
In the region of East Attica, a blaze in the town of Varnavas was raging in an area with scattered houses, emitting so much smoke that the capital, Athens, glowed red at one point on Sunday afternoon.
Fire officials said a force of 165 firefighters with 30 vehicles, seven firefighting aircraft and five helicopters have been deployed while Varnavas residents were instructed to evacuate.
Another fire erupted earlier on Sunday afternoon in Megara, West Attica, triggering an evacuation alert.
Forty-eight firefighters equipped with 13 vehicles and additional volunteers were working on the ground, while two planes and two helicopters provided aerial support.
In Thessaloniki, a fire in the town of Lagadas was partially under control, with 20 firefighters, 10 vehicles and one helicopter at the scene.
Climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias had warned Saturday that weather conditions leading up to August 15 would be dangerous for forest fires.
"Extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions will prevail," he said during a government committee meeting.
A combination of strong winds and drought conditions meant "half of Greece will be in the 'red'" in terms of risk, he added.
Kostas Lagouvardos, director of research at the National Observatory of Athens, said on Sunday morning that given the current weather conditions, if the response to the fires was not quick enough the flames could quickly burn out of control.
With winds in some areas will reach 80 to 90 kilometres per hour, Lagouvardos told broadcaster ERT News that Sunday was expected to be the most difficult day to battle fires.
The Mediterranean country is exceptionally vulnerable to summer blazes, with this season seeing fires burn daily.
After the warmest winter on record, Greece also experienced its hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.
It registered its earliest recorded heatwave in June.
Scientists warn that human-induced fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency, and intensity of heat waves worldwide.
The rising temperatures are leading to longer wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt in the flames, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.