Wildfires burn across Greek tourist hotspot as thousands evacuate in soaring temperatures

A fast-moving wildfire whipped by gale-force winds burned through the night and into Thursday on Greece's southern island of Crete, prompting the evacuation of more than 1,500 people from hotels and homes.

The fire department said 230 firefighters backed up by 10 water-dropping aircraft were battling the flames, which have burned through forest and farmland in the Ierapetra area on the island's southern coast.

Two people were evacuated by boat overnight, while six private boats were on standby in case further evacuations by sea became necessary, the coast guard said.

Homes were reported to have been damaged as flames swept through hillside forests, fanned by strong winds.

"It's a very difficult situation. The fire is very hard to contain. Right now, they cannot contain it," Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official at the regional authority, told The Associated Press.

Read More: Israeli strikes and gunfire kill 94 people in Gaza overnight

Read More: Several injured after stabbings at shopping centre in Finland

"The tourists who were moved out are all OK. They have been taken to an indoor basketball arena and hotels in other regions of the island," he said.

The fire service and a civil protection agency issued mobile phone alerts for the evacuations and appealed to residents not to return to try to save their property.

As fires crested ridgelines and edged toward residential areas, the blaze sent clouds of ash into the night sky, illuminated by the headlights of emergency vehicles and water trucks that lined the coastal road near the resorts of Ferma and Achlia on the southeast of Crete.

Several people were treated for breathing difficulties, officials said, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries.

The heat reached 30C today, according to the Met Office, with temperatures soaring to highs of 37C on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The fires come as what's been described as a “heat dome” continues to sit over continental Europe.

The area of high pressure has seen temperatures across Europe soar, with areas of Spain, Italy and Greece all seeing the mercury soar - increasing the chances of ferocious wildfires in these areas.

Dr Akshay Deoras, from the University of Reading, has said the heat dome - whose centre currently centred on Denmark, with the UK on its western edge - is “bringing stable, mostly cloudless weather and drawing in hot, dry air from the south”.

Crete is one of Greece's most popular destinations for both foreign and domestic tourists.

The risk of wildfires remained very high across Crete and parts of southern Greece on Thursday, according to a daily bulletin issued by the fire service.

Wildfires are frequent in the country during its hot, dry summers, and the fire department has already tackled dozens across Greece so far this year.

In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee.

More than 100 died, including some who drowned while trying to swim away from the flames.