Athens – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis talks about a “nightmare fire”, a “vicious circle” fire brigade – severe fires that have been rocking the whole of Greece for days!
Large areas of the Peloponnese peninsula, the holiday islands of Rhodes and Kos, as well as on the island of Evia, caught fire. In all, the fire brigade fought 40 larger fires across the country, the civil defense announced.
There is great relief that no one has died in Greece yet. At least eight people have died in fires in Turkey so far.
There is also fear among many touristsPhoto: Michael Pappas/D
Thick clouds of smoke can be seen over the Acropolis in AthensPhoto: Aggelos Barai / dpa
Fires broke out near Dhekelia, north of AthensPhoto: Luisa Golyamaki/AFP
Smoke from a forest fire rises behind a mountainside in the town of Limni, on the Euboea Peninsula, about 160 kilometers north of AthensPhoto: Michael Pappas/D
The situation remains tense in the greater Athens area. Winds blew in the fire district north of the capital on Wednesday, so that the fire was largely contained. Instead, the whole city was now under a huge bell of smoke that did not evaporate due to the lack of wind. Only new storms will help, but they can start a fire. The temporary calm on the fire front is only now: the present.
“Hopefully we can get the fire under control today before the cranes are used again,” a state television firefighter said. Meanwhile, almost all the inhabitants of Athens suffer not only from the scorching heat, but also from a huge amount of fine dust emanating from the plumes of smoke.
Meanwhile, the Greek health authority has reported pollution of up to 465 micrograms of fine dust per cubic meter in the city centre. For comparison: the EU-wide limit value is a daily average of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air – ten times less.
A brutal heat wave in southeastern Europe
After 46.3 degrees on Monday, a maximum of 47.1 degrees was measured in Greece yesterday. Are we cracking up to 50 degrees today?
The European temperature record is exactly 48.0 degrees and was measured in Greece in the summer of 1977. The weather has never been hotter in Europe. Until now?
“It’s possible. I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes in that direction at individual stations. It’s very likely 47-48 degrees and 50 degrees is locally likely,” says climatologist Dr. Carsten Brandt from Donnerwetter.de to BILD.
Heat wave and forest fires. Forests are burning near the Greek capital AthensPhoto: working pressure
Graduate meteorologist Dominic Young of the Q.met Weather Service tells BILD: “It depends on the little things, like where the wind comes from. If it blows from the sea, it can still be much colder. But it can be 48 degrees if it blows.” From the side of the land. It depends on the tenth. Locally it can be very different.”
So these are going to be exciting hours and days. It has already been a long heat wave historically and will continue into the end of the week. Then it gets a little cooler with maximum values of 40 degrees, but from Sunday and Monday it will be very hot again and the maximum values will rise to 45 degrees.
“The jet stream is the cause. This is like a wall over Europe. It separates the hot air masses in southeast Europe from the cold air masses in the northwest. It barely moves,” explains weather expert Jung. That is why this extreme “thermal dome” was able to form over Greece and Turkey. The heat is trapped there and it can continue to increase.”
As is the case here in the north of Athens, many wildfires are currently raging in southeastern EuropePhoto: Thanassis Stavrakis / D
Escape from the flames in Milas, TurkeyPhoto: Emre Tazegul / AP