Loading player
Large fires have been raging in Greece all week. The worst affected areas are Loutraki, near the city of Corinth, and a forest near Dervenochoria, about 30 kilometers north of Athens. In recent days, the tourist resort of Lagonisi, about 40 kilometers southeast of Athens, had also been hit, and there had also been fires on the islands of Crete and Rhodes. The situation was aggravated by the strong winds and the heat wave that has been affecting the entire Mediterranean basin for several days, which has created a very dry climate favorable to the spread of fires.
As a result of the fires, traffic on some motorways and some railway sections was interrupted. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on a visit to Brussels described the situation as worrying: “We’ve always had fires in the summer, but due to the effects of climate change right now they seem more intense.”
– Read also: The great heat in the northern hemisphere