Four dead in Turkey wildfires as blazes continue across Greece
More than 3,500 people have been evacuated from the area around Bursa, Turkey's fourth-largest city, while two volunteer firefighters died in hospital after being pulled from an overturned water tanker that was on its way to fight the forest fire, the IHA news agency reported. Another emergency responder was killed at the scene and a firefighter died of a heart attack earlier in the weekend.
Some 2,300 firefighters battled the flames and gusty winds on Sunday night as fires spread rapidly, tinting the night sky red. The scene was described as 'an apocalypse' by Orhan Saribal, an opposition politician for the province.
'A forest burning is like someone taking a gun and shooting at our homeland,' said Ibrahim Youmakli, the Turkish minister of agriculture and forestry.
Youmakli added that at least 44 separate fires were burning across the country, with 17 blaze-related fatalities having been recorded since late June. Other regions affected include Antalya, Mersin and Kahramanmaras.
Yılmaz Tunc, the justice minister, revealed that investigations into possible arson were under way. In Bursa a 30-year-old suspect, Ufuk A, was detained after locals spotted a petrol canister in his vehicle near the fire's origin.
In Greece, firefighters continued to battle blazes on five fronts as the authorities issued a new high-risk fire alert for multiple regions, despite managing to contain a spate of wildfires over the weekend.
In the Peloponnese area west of Athens, along with the islands of Crete, Evia, Kythira and Euboea, teams remained to handle any potential flare-ups.
In one of the most serious incidents, a fire near the village of Drosopigi, close to Athens, burnt down two houses, forcing residents to flee. At least five civilians and six firefighters were taken to hospital for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation. More than 100 firefighters continue to battle the flames.
Greece requested emergency support, through the EU Civil Protection mechanism, asking for six firefighting aircraft to join local forces. Teams from Italy and the Czech Republic have assisted.
In Chania, Crete, a large fire damaged homes and a church. Crews on the popular tourist destination of Kythira were also fighting a large blaze estimated to have spread around half of the island, according to the deputy mayor Giorgos Komninos.
'Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burnt,' Komninos told the state-run ERT News channel.
• Greece wildfires: is it safe to travel?
Elsewhere in Europe, beachgoers on the coast of Sardinia were forced to flee by boat after a nearby wildfire blocked all other escape routes and trapped some 200 cars. Black smoke could be seen rising from the beach in Villasimius in the south of the island.
Firefighters were also facing wildfires in Albania, Montenegro and Bulgaria amid unusually high temperatures across the continent.
• Wildfires: could this be the worst year on record?
Last month fires on Greece's fifth-biggest island, Chios, in the northern Aegean, swept across 11,600 acres. Earlier in July, a wildfire on the island of Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 tourists.
Greece's deadliest fire on record killed 104 people outside Athens in 2018. The country's government has repeatedly attributed rising rates of wildfires to climate change.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Another heatwave could hit the UK – here are the top tips for keeping cool
It's not uncommon to see the weather in the UK be a little unpredictable. But despite the showers and a slightly cooler temperature over the last couple of weeks, we might be in for another heatwave this summer. By the looks of it, we could be in for a scorcher towards the end of next week and into the weekend, with temperatures set to rise to on 8 August. The Met Office's long range forecast states that 'there is an increased chance of high pressure becoming more dominant, leading to drier, warmer and more settled conditions becoming more widespread.' It's important to be prepared if the weather does heat up, which is why we've compiled the top tips for keeping cool. When you're out and about, basking in the sunshine, loose fabrics and even an electrolyte drink may be enough to keep you cool and hydrated, but when you're cooped up inside, with the sun beating through your windows, you may just need to call in the big guns. But there are lots of different cooling techniques out there, and plenty of urban myths, such as drinking hot drinks to cool down. On top of that, there are lots of cooling products and tons of jargon. You might not know air coolers from air conditioners or the difference between tower fans and pedestal fans. That's why we spoke to the experts about the best ways to stay comfortable at your desk and sleep breezily through the night. What qualifies as a heatwave? In the UK, an official heatwave occurs when a given area reaches a temperature threshold for three consecutive days, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C, depending on where you're located across the country, explains Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Tony Wisson. In London, for instance, the threshold is 28C, in Aberdeen it's 25C. How to stay cool at home According to Met Office advice, when temperatures soar, we should try to keep out of the sun between 11am to 3pm, when the UV rays are strongest. To stay cool indoors, 'close curtains on rooms that face the sun to keep indoor spaces cooler'. Alex Atkinson, air conditioning technician at Super Brothers, recommends 'minimising the use of ovens, stoves, or dryers during the hottest periods, alongside keeping hydrated and having cool showers throughout the day' to help take the edge off. If you've drawn the curtains, pulled the blinds down, and taken all the cool showers you can stomach, and you're still not feeling comfortable, it may be time to bring in a little extra help. Luckily, there are plenty of additional devices and tools that we can purchase to help keep our homes cool, and we've reviewed some of the best on the market. Fans A fan goes a long way to make a room feel less stuffy – but where you position it can make a big difference. Shawn Navarednam, an environmental care design engineer at Dyson, says that 'for circulation and cooling purposes, fans should point towards you or the inside of the room. Additionally, cooler air is denser and accumulates at the bottom of the room, so keeping your fan near the ground to sweep the cold air up will help.' The Vortex air cleanse (£149.99, took the top spot in our review of the best fans. It 'combines a sleek design with powerful performance at great value. It cools and heats quickly, is energy efficient, thanks to a smart thermostat, and will slot seamlessly into pretty much any home,' praised our tester. If you're looking for a quiet fan, we'd recommend Duux's whisper flex smart fan (£171.95, It has 30 speed settings and multiple modes, including natural wind mode, which our tester found to be 'noticeably different from the usual blasting air you find in most fans' and a much more relaxing experience. Portable air conditioner If you're really looking to cool a room down at speed, nothing will be an air conditioning unit. They work by extracting the hot air from your room and replacing it with a cool and refreshing breeze. Senior tech critic Alex Lee has tested a whole host of different options and found the best portable air conditioner for any space. MeacoCool 9K three-in-one air conditioner (£400, was found to be the best. He praised it for being "smaller and lighter than many units' he tested, and was 'small enough to store away during the winter when it's not in use.' You can control it from an app, too, so if you're suffering on a sweltering commute home, you can have the Meaco cool your room ready for your return, and if you're overheating as you sleep, you can turn up the cooling without leaving your bed. Air cooler A midpoint between a portable ACs and a fan, the best air coolers. Where fans push air around the room, air coolers use chilled water and ice to introduce cooler air to a room. They're not quite as effective as portable ACs, but they're much cheaper. Senior tech critic Alex Lee put the Igenix 10l smart digital air cooler IGFD7010WIFI (was £129.00, now £109, among others to the test and described it as a 'work of art'. It did a 'good – if slightly basic – job of cooling down hot rooms'. While it's reduced to £109, it's the perfect addition to your home ahead of the potential heatwave. Bedding Getting a full night's sleep in a heatwave may sound like an impossible dream, but there are some ways of keeping cool in bed. Lisa Artis, deputy CEO of Simba's charity partner, The Sleep Charity, says you should try 'spreading out as much as you can, like a starfish, as it can help to circulate air around your body better and encourage heat to escape, as you sleep.' It might also seem counterintuitive, but rather than having a cold shower before bed, Lisa suggests taking a warm shower right before bed. 'The warm water makes our body heat up, and then, when we get out of the shower, a rapid drop in temperature cools our body down.' Similarly, it's worthwhile to reconsider your bedding during the summer months. Our resident sleep expert and IndyBest assistant editor, Sarah Jones, found Simba's summer hybrid duvet (from £129, to be the best summer duvet. Even during a muggy, no-breeze night, where sleep usually feels impossible, 'I didn't wake up drenched in sweat or tossing around trying to find a cool spot,' she wrote. We'd also recommend trying Panda's bamboo mattress topper (£139, which took the top spot in our review of the best cooling mattress toppers. IndyBest tester Lois Borny noted that the 'gel-fused memory foam is engineered to be cooler than regular memory foam, containing gel capsules that draw heat from the body, while extra space allows heat to escape'.
Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Telegraph
BBC and Met Office team up to tackle ‘weather disinformation'
The BBC and the Met Office are to work together to counter 'weather disinformation'. Britain's main weather forecasting service, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, was dropped by the corporation in 2017. But the relationship has now been renewed in order to provide 'weather education' to combat conspiracy theories and other false information. The concerns relate to a minority of online content that misrepresents the reality of the weather, including conspiracies about cloud formations and other phenomena. One widespread theory contends that vapour trails left by aircraft at low-temperature altitudes are in fact chemicals being sprayed into the atmosphere. The purpose of this is not agreed on by the conspiracy theorists spreading the claim, with some saying it is weather control, and others say it is for psychological manipulation of the human population. Other concerns about misinformation relate to exaggerated online claims about impending and devastating 'heatwaves' and 'snowbombs'. Safety concerns over online weather content Broadcast bosses are also worried that some online content could prevent the public taking proper measures to ensure their safety during severe weather. Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, said that there has 'never been more need for trusted and impartial information to help people understand today's weather'. He added that the new partnership would help everyone in the UK to make informed decisions about the weather. The announcement of the plan to work with the Met Office comes after the BBC's own weather app wrongly predicted 13,000mph winds across the UK in 2024. This error was blamed on a data issue with the US meteorological service, DTN. In 2021, the BBC made a 'Climate Content' pledge to create programming with more information on climate change that would inspire audiences to make 'greener choices'. It began a process of embedding climate-related messaging into popular programmes. Climate message in BBC programming A 2024 report into the progress of this project stated: 'The BBC has found opportunities to authentically embed sustainability themes into its content, from blockbuster natural history titles such as Asia, which launched this autumn, to gripping climate thriller On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace. 'And even in coverage of the world's biggest sporting event, the Olympics.' The report added that programme-makers would continue their 'commitment to finding audience-relevant ways to reflect sustainability' in BBC output 'across all genres'. Penny Endersby, the chief executive of the Met Office, said of the new partnership with the BBC: 'As the UK's national weather service, we are excited to be back working closely with the BBC again. 'Together we can reach even more people with essential weather information, helping them to plan their days, stay safe when it matters and keep well-informed in our changing climate.'
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Europe is hit by more weather extremes
Extreme weather is wreaking havoc across Europe, pushing emergency services to their limits as wildfires, heatwaves, and storms sweep across the continent. Blazes have erupted in Portugal, Greece , and Spain , while tornadoes have struck tourist hotspots in parts of Spain and Switzerland. Thousands of firefighters have been battling a dozen wildfires raging in northern Portugal and central Spain through the night and into Wednesday, in the largest wave of blazes in the Iberian Peninsula so far this year following weeks of summer heat. 'There was a huge effort during the night, so now we have a somewhat calmer situation,' Civil Protection Commander Helder Silva told reporters, cautioning that shifting strong winds and a difficult terrain meant their work was far from over. 'It's a very large wildfire in areas with difficult access,' he said. Further north, a blaze has been raging since Saturday in the Peneda-Geres national park near the Spanish border, enveloping nearby villages in thick smoke that led to orders for residents to stay at home. Portuguese firefighters managed to control two large fires that started on Monday in the central areas of Penamacor and Nisa. Authorities said the Penamacor blaze had destroyed 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of forest. In Spain's central province of Avila, shifting gusts of wind hindered efforts by firefighters and a special military unit, emergency services said. Residents in the village of El Arenal, about 100 km (62 miles) west of Madrid, were advised to remain indoors due to heavy smoke. In Mombeltran near Avila, farmer Blas Rodriguez fought back tears as he walked among scorched trees, his olive grove devastated by the fire. 'This land belongs to my father. It burnt 16 years ago but the olive trees were spared from the fire... this time there is no way to save them, everything is completely burnt,' he told Reuters. In the western province of Caceres, the fire has affected 2,500 hectares, prompting evacuations from homes scattered across the Caminomorisco area, authorities said. Hot and dry summers are common across the region, but more intense heatwaves have contributed to destructive wildfires in recent years amid fast-rising temperatures around the globe. Meanwhile, in Greece a large wildfire is currently ripping through a forest area between Kanali and Monolithi in Preveza. The fire started at approximately 2pm local time (12.00 BST) and quickly grew. Shortly after the blaze erupted a 112 message was sent to residents of the area warning them to be alert and ready to evacuate if necessary. Residents have complained that emergency aircraft were slow to intervene, resulting in the fire growing in size and destroying a protected area, local media reports. Roughly 40 firefighters are working to tackle the blaze with, 16 vehicles, 4 aircraft and 1 helicopter at the scene. Water tankers and local government machinery are also helping to extinguish the blaze. Strong winds are reportedly blowing at the site, which makes the work of the Fire Department difficult. The fire has disrupted traffic on the National Highway from the Monolithi Junction to the intersection at Kanali. It isn't just wildfires wreaking havoc across Europe, but storms and tornadoes too. In Majorca, dramatic footage taken over the weekend shows a tornado striking a beach, sending sand and towels hurtling into the sky as tourists run for cover. Meanwhile, in the Alps, a sudden plunge in temperature caused snowfall overnight in Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie. And, in Switzerland on Tuesday, a fisherman captured a video of a spectacular waterspout spiralling high into the clouds over Lake Constance. It comes after raging wildfires engulfed Turkey outside the country's fourth-largest city - forcing hundreds of residents to flee their homes. Flames ripped through the forested mountains surrounding Bursa city in northwest Turkey overnight on July 26, shining a threatening red glow on the night sky. It marks the latest city to be hit by deadly blazes this summer - as destinations in Greece and Cyprus have also fallen victim to aggressive wildfires amid unseasonably high temperatures. The governor's office in Bursa said more than 1,760 people were safely evacuated from villages to the northeast as more than 1,100 firefighters battled the flames. The highway linking Bursa to the capital, Ankara, was closed off as surrounding forests burned. Orhan Saribal, an opposition parliamentarian for the province, likened the scene to 'an apocalypse'. Turkey has been hit by dozens of wildfires every day since late June - with Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yamukli revealing fire crews across the country approached 76 separate blazes yesterday alone.
