There is no end in sight to the heatwave in Greece. As announced on Saturday by the Meteorological Office, values of up to 45 degrees Celsius are expected in the south of the country during the weekend. The thermometer will also show values around 40 degrees in the north. Even most islands in the Aegean sea have temperatures above 38 degrees. Firefighters again warned of the great danger of forest fires.
“We are facing even tougher times,” a spokesman for the fire department said on state television on Saturday morning. The risk of wildfires remains extremely high, he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters from Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Malta have arrived in Greece to reinforce the fire brigade and are battling the flames. France, Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel and Jordan are participating in the extinguishing work with firefighting planes and helicopters, announced the Greek civil defense. The fires in the Athens area and on the Peloponnese peninsula were brought under control. But the fires flared again and again because everything dried up, it was said. According to the fire department, the hardest fire is raging near the village of Laerma on the tourist island of Rhodes. Tourists are not in danger.
According to meteorologists, the heat wave will continue with small fluctuations next week. A new peak with temperatures around 46 degrees is expected in southern Greece on Wednesday.