Rhodes wildfires: Terrified tourists evacuated from Greece hotels amid Europe heatwave chaos

Wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes have forced thousands of tourists to flee their hotels and be evacuated off the beach by a fleet of private boats. The fires had been burning for days as Rhodes, like many parts of southern Europe, sweltered under a prolonged heatwave. But while previously they threatened only the mostly uninhabited central parts of the island, on Saturday strong winds pushed the fires towards the coast, forcing at least three resorts and hotels to be evacuated. The beach rescue involved around 30 private vessels as well as the coastguard and saw more than 2,000 tourists evacuated, an official said. The operation was expected to continue on Sunday. British tourists have described being caught up in the “terrifying” ordeal, with the Foreign Office directing UK nationals towards a crisis management unit set up by the Greek authorities. It comes as the heatwave conditions, caused by a high pressure system over southern Europe, eased in France and Spain but were forecast to continue in Italy and the Balkans. Read More Wildfires on Greek island of Rhodes force thousands of holidaymakers to evacuate From body bags of ice to pavement burn: US grapples with new extreme heat reality Hiker, 71, dies in Death Valley shortly after being asked by reporter why he was braving heat: ‘Why not?’ July 2023 is set to be world’s hottest month in ‘hundreds, if not thousands, of years’