Greece battles massive wildfire as hot, dry summer maintains its grip on Europe

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A record-breaking hot and dry summer tightened its grip on Europe Monday, as water-dropping planes swooped over a major wildfire in Greece, firefighters in France sought to stabilize a blaze in Provence and much of the U.K. recorded its driest July in nearly two centuries.

Strong winds eased in Greece, allowing firefighting flights to resume, a day after a mid-air collision between two helicopters killed two crew members.

A Greek and a Danish national died and two others were hospitalized in the helicopter collision. All four were private operators chartered by the Greek firefighting service.

In France, firefighters in the region around Bordeaux guarded against potential flare-ups inside a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris.

A prolonged heat wave and lack of rainfall led to the driest July in England and Wales in nearly 200 years of record-keeping, according to provisional statistics, the U.K.’s weather service said Monday.

A wildfire burns in Vlychada, west of Athens, Greece, on Monday. (Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters)

All of Wales and more than half of England are officially in drought, the Met Office said. The dry spell was accompanied by sweltering temperatures across much of the U.K., following heat waves in May and June.

Wales tied its record for its warmest mean temperature for July while England and the U.K. recorded their second-warmest July.

Meanwhile, numerous governments across central and eastern Europe are taking steps to conserve electricity and avert an energy crisis as record low water levels on the Danube River have forced power plants to the brink of shutting down.

Persistent drought and successive extreme heat waves have deprived one of Europe’s largest rivers of water, pushing the Danube’s levels in Hungary’s capital Budapest to around 10 centimetres on Monday, well below the previous all-time low of 33 centimetres set in 2018.

Water levels are not expected to rise on the Danube in the coming days or even weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast, and as a renewed extreme heat wave bears down on the region with daytime highs topping 38 C, electricity and water use are on the rise.

Hundreds evacuate Athens area

Gales at the weekend in Greece hampered firefighting efforts along mountainous and coastal areas while also allowing flames to spread more rapidly, but authorities said Monday the situation was improving.

Authorities warned that areas surrounding Athens remained at high risk. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the region, including more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area.

WATCH | Horses run from flames near Greek settlement of Kandili:

Horses flee from wildfire northwest of Athens

A group of horses was seen running as flames engulfed a field behind them on Monday near the Greek settlement of Kandili, as winds fanned a wildfire in the area. The horses were not harmed, according to local media that captured the escape on video.

Strong winds eased Monday, allowing the deployment of 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters around the fire-hit Greek seaside resort of Porto Germeno where multiple evacuations have been ordered.

“To put it in a headline: conditions are better, but we are pressing forward because there are still multiple points of activity,” Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said. “This is a difficult fire that has troubled us.”

The blaze was blamed on a faulty power line from a wind farm and led to the arrests of two contractors on charges of negligent arson.

Despite improved detection methods and an expanded co-operation among European Union members, Greece and other countries along Europe’s Mediterranean coast suffer devastating wildfires every summer as spells of heat wave temperatures grow longer.

Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought leave vegetation drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely.

WATCH | Fires burn in Crete:

Wildfires burn on Greek island of Crete

Wildfires raged on the Greek island of Crete this week, AFP reports, leaving two firefighters dead. The fires in Greece come as Europe faces a hot and dry summer, with fires also raging in France and Spain.

Evacuees return home in France

In France, thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home or to holiday accommodation Monday after a massive wildfire remained contained. More than 224,000 people had fled in what officials said was the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

The wildfire burned about 420 square kilometres, making it France’s largest wildfire on record. Monday’s return includes Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourist hot spot along the Atlantic coast, and Le Porge, the municipality hardest hit by the fire, where 183 homes were destroyed. Campsites remain closed.

A second wildfire in Provence did not flare up overnight, but was still not contained Monday as stronger winds were expected, firefighters and authorities said. About 1,500 firefighters, supported by water-dropping helicopters, continued reinforcing fire lines along the blaze that tore through about 18 square kilometres.

Anna Maria Sabou and her son inspect debris of their home after it was destroyed by a wildfire in Le Porge, Gironde department, France, on Monday. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

The European Forest Fire Information System said the risk of wildfire remains high across parts of the continent through Aug. 5, including traditional cooler northern countries.

Firefighters in the Netherlands were battling a large blaze Monday in a forest in the southern province of Limburg, authorities said, as the country sweltered through another day of hot, dry summer weather. The national railway operator halted trains between two towns in the area due to the fire.

The Dutch air force sent two Chinook helicopters equipped with large water containers to help firefighters tackle the blaze in the Netherlands. Media reported that a campsite in the area was evacuated due to poor air quality caused by a large plume of smoke.