France and Greece battle major wildfires as heatwave persists
Thousands of Europeans remain displaced and tourist economies face fresh disruption as unprecedented wildfires ravage southern France and Greek coastal resorts amid extreme heat.
Emergency services across southern Europe are stretched this weekend as twin wildfire crises in France and Greece force thousands from their homes and threaten vital tourist infrastructure.
In Provence, a rapidly expanding blaze in the Gros Bessillon area has consumed 4,500 hectares by the end of the week, including 1,250 hectares since Friday alone. A deployment of 1,300 firefighters successfully prevented the flames from reaching the populated towns of Correns and Montfort-sur-Argens overnight. However, 2,500 people are still unable to return to their homes, creating an ongoing public housing and emergency relief challenge.
The broader economic damage is already severe in the Gironde region near Bordeaux, where crews have contained France's largest wildfire in seven decades. That fire has incinerated 420 square kilometres of pine forest west of the city, an area roughly four times the size of Paris. While the flames have not broken beyond existing boundaries, the blaze is not yet declared fixed, and buried hot spots continue to pose a risk to local forestry assets.
Greece is facing its own severe disruptions, with violent weather hampering efforts to save Porto Germeno, a coastal resort northwest of Athens critical to the local leisure economy. Over 400 firefighters, supported by dozens of specialised aircraft, are battling the flames. Yet according to the National Observatory of Athens, recorded wind speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour have heavily restricted aerial operations.
The fire broke out on Friday near the neighbouring village of Agios Vasileios. In a significant breakdown of civil protection protocols, residents initially ignored calls to evacuate, ultimately requiring around 300 people to be rescued by sea. Wildfires have also flared across other parts of the country this week, including on the island of Crete, at the cost of three firefighters' lives.
These simultaneous disasters highlight the growing operational burden of extreme weather on European states. Twenty French departments, mostly in the east and southeast, were under orange heat warnings on Saturday. Mediterranean temperatures are forecast between 35 and 39 degrees Celsius, keeping eight regions on high alert for further forest fires.
