BURNING HOT Urgent holiday warning for popular Brit destination as seven new ‘extreme fire risk’ alerts issued amid Rhodes chaos
GREECE has issued "extreme fire risks" for tomorrow in seven new areas across the country as wildfires engulf Rhodes for the sixth day.
The Ministry of Civil Protection has sounded the alarms after temperatures have soared in the holiday hotspot.
Wildfires have been raging across Rhodes and spread quickly overnight as high winds fanned thefires
Thousands of tourists have been evacuated from Rhodes
The different levels of fire warnings over Greece
The ministry has raised the fire risk to "extreme" in the areas of Attica, Evia, Boeotia, Corinthia, Ilia, Argolis, Messinia and Rhodes - which is already battling with the worst blaze Greece has ever seen.
Greece continues to face high temperatures - with forecasts of up to 45C going into next week as government agencies have warned people to stay indoors.
The country has faced fires in the past but a series of drier and windy summers have brought more fires in recent years.
The country also experienced an "insidious and dangerous" heat blast earlier this month with temperatures also soaring to 40C.
In Rhodes, up to 30,000 locals and tourists have been forced to flee in the biggest evacuation effort Greece has ever seen as the fires on the popular island rage on into their sixth day.
Over 250 firefighters, helicopters, water-bombers and emergency rescuers are battling the blaze that has been engulfing the south and central parts of the island, burning down homes and hotels.
Yiannis Artopios, a fire service spokesman, said: “The focus now is to contain two major fronts in the south and central part of the island.
"The regions hit so far may account for less than 10 per cent of the island’s hotel infrastructure, but if left unchecked the blazes can threaten the remaining 90 per cent.”
The fireman also added they are investigating possible arson as the cause of the massive fire.
British Embassy officials in Athens urged Brits to leave the area on Saturday evening - as flights into Rhodes continue to be cancelled.
Extraordinary scenes show columns of tourists and locals travelling on foot and carrying their belongings and children down dusty roads.
Busloads of fleeing Brits were taken to makeshift camps in gyms, schools and hotel conference centres where they staged overnight on mattresses on the floor.
Coastguard vessels and more than 20 private boats took part in an operation to evacuate swathes of tourists and local residents late into the night on Saturday.
Horror footage emerged of scores of people with young children desperately waiting to be loaded onto boats in total darkness as fires burned in the background.
It comes as British dad-of-four has described his family's hell as they fled the Rhodes inferno in the dead of night.
PE Teacher Daniel Jones told The Sun he had to wade into the ocean neck deep to get his young family onto a pleasure boat to escape the flames that chased them.
"It has been a nightmare, our holiday has been ruined, our kids traumatised," he said.
"There was still a lot of confusion, it was madness. There were no reps or anyone to tell us what was happening.
"There was a moment where you could clearly see the flames moving closer but there were no boats to escape, I felt completely powerless to protect my family."
Weather experts have declared 2023 an El Niño year - a natural phenomenon that occurs cyclically and causes fluctuations in the global climate.
The fireman also added they are investigating possible arson as the cause of the massive fire.
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said it will raise temperatures around the world, and the effect is likely to continue for the rest of the year.
And despite the heat this summer, Europe's record temperature of 48.8C - recorded in 2021 in Sardinia, Sicily - has not been reached and is currently not forecast to be broken.
A man holds his child as they flee from a burning village
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