A major wildfire is threatening Patras, Greece’s third-largest city, as extreme heat and fierce winds fuel blazes across much of southern Europe. Nearly 10,000 hectares have been destroyed in the surrounding Achaia region within two days, forcing mass evacuations and devastating communities.
On Wednesday, searing winds pushed flames into the city’s outskirts, prompting the evacuation of a children’s hospital. Entire villages in the region have been emptied, with homes, businesses, and hundreds of vehicles including over 500 cars at a customs yard reduced to ash. Streets in Patras were eerily deserted, save for a few residents watching the fires descend from nearby mountains.
Temperatures in the city reached 38°C as smoke blanketed the area, sending some residents to hospitals with breathing difficulties. Authorities evacuated a nearby town of 7,700 people on Tuesday and issued fresh alerts for two villages on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Greece, coastguards rescued dozens as fires closed in on beaches on the islands of Zante and Chios. More than 4,800 firefighters are battling over 20 wildfires nationwide, supported by EU water bombers after Greece appealed for help.
The disaster unfolds amid a brutal heatwave gripping southern Europe, with blazes reported from Portugal to the Balkans. In Spain, where temperatures peaked at 45°C on Tuesday, a civilian and a volunteer firefighter were killed during the country’s tenth consecutive day of extreme heat. Almost the entire nation remains at extreme fire risk, with this heatwave likely to become one of Spain’s longest on record.
Portugal has deployed 1,800 firefighters against five major blazes, while Albania faces 24 active fires. Italy has subdued a five-day inferno on Mount Vesuvius but remains under extreme heat warnings in 16 cities, with Florence reaching 39°C.
Even Britain is feeling the effects, enduring its fourth heatwave of the summer with temperatures expected to hit 34°C.
Meteorologists warn that such extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to human-induced climate change, increasing the urgency for adaptation and mitigation efforts. For Patras and other affected regions, the immediate focus remains on saving lives and containing the flames before more communities are lost.
