In the last 24 hours, 81 wildfires have broken out in Greece
An extreme heatwave has brought high temperatures and dry conditions to Greece, with 81 wildfires starting in the country over the last 24 hours.
The biggest fire, in a forest north of Athens, entered a residential area on Tuesday. Thousands of people have left their homes, and because of the smoke and flames, there has been a partial closure of the main north-south highway through Greece. There are 500 firefighters working to put out the blaze, which is being fueled by strong winds. Officials are hoping the winds die down by Wednesday morning, giving firefighters the chance to use more water-dropping aircraft.
Civil Protection Chief Nikos Hardalias said Greece is "undergoing one of the worst heatwaves of the past 40 years," with temperatures in Athens reaching 113 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday. This is putting a strain on the country's power supply, and forcing early closures at historical sites like the Acropolis. Greece isn't the only country in the region dealing with extreme heat and wildfires — there are dozens of blazes burning in Turkey, Italy, and Albania.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Grok in the crosshairs as EU launches deepfake porn probeIN THE SPOTLIGHT The European Union has officially begun investigating Elon Musk’s proprietary AI, as regulators zero in on Grok’s porn problem and its impact continent-wide
-
‘But being a “hot” country does not make you a good country’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Why have homicide rates reportedly plummeted in the last year?Today’s Big Question There could be more to the story than politics
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
