Wildfires reached the outskirts of Athens on Thursday as strong gusts of wind caused flare-ups around Greece, disrupting highway traffic and rail services.
The fires have raged across parts of the country during three successive Mediterranean heat waves over two weeks, leaving five people dead, including two firefighting pilots, and triggering a huge evacuation of tourists over the weekend on the island of Rhodes.
Water-dropping helicopters and a ground crew scrambled early Thursday to a blaze in Kifissia, just north of Athens, which was quickly put out.
Near the central city of Volos, a wildfire burned on two fronts, forcing a section of Greece’s busiest highway to close for several hours, while national rail services passing through the area were delayed.
Greek firefighters also battled flames on Rhodes for a 10th successive day, while flare-ups were reported on the island of Evia.
The World Meteorological Organization, a UN body, and a European Union climate change service reported Thursday that temperatures in the month of July set a new global record.
As Southern Europe fights extreme heat and wildfires, parts of central Europe have been hit with winter conditions. Subfreezing temperatures, frost and snow have been reported in the Tatra mountains, which run through Poland and Slovakia.
In Italy, firefighters battled brush fires in the southern mainland regions of Calabria and Puglia, as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, helped by temperatures dropping some 13 degrees Celsius into the low- and mid-30s C . Sicily remained the focal point, with fires continuing to burn near the capital, Palermo, as seven aircraft were engaged to douse the flames.
“Without doubt, we can see that all across the Mediterranean the climate crisis is here and it’s affecting us all more strongly than perhaps even scientists had warned us about,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Thursday during a meeting with the country’s president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Wildfire carbon emissions for July in Greece were the highest by a huge margin – totalling more than one metric megaton and doubling the previous record – since records started 20 years ago, according to the EU agency that analyzes satellite data, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
“Unfortunately, it is not all that surprising, given the extreme conditions in the region,” said Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the agency. “The observed intensity and estimated emissions show how unusual the scale of the fires has been for July relative to the last 20 years of data.”
An EU disaster response agency announced that it was sending two more firefighting planes, provided by France, to Greece.
In Athens, senior members of the armed forces paid tribute to the two pilots killed in a firefighting plane crash this week, at a ceremony held at the Defense Ministry.
Cpt. Christos Moulas and Lt. Pericles Stephanidis died during a low-altitude water drop on the island of Evia.
Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said the operators had shown “self-denial in the line of duty.”
“Greece today is in mourning. Their memories will live on,” Dendias said.
Funeral services for the two airmen were to be held in northern Greece later Thursday and on the island of Crete on Friday.
Gatopoulos reported from Athens. Associated Press writers Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy, and Venessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.