Wildfires in Turkey, Greece force thousands to evacuate in searing heat
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Residents and firefighters attempt to extinguish a wildfire as smoke and flames rise from a forested area in the Gursu district of Bursa early on July 27. Photo: Onur Yurtsever/AFP via Getty Images
Deadly wildfires engulfing parts of Turkey and Greece have forced thousands to evacuate, as much of the Mediterranean and Europe face what meteorologists are describing as an "exceptional," enduring heat wave.
The big picture: Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Spain have also seen fires driven by extremely dry conditions and powerful winds. Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal are among the countries impacted by the extreme heat, and a record high temperature of 50.5°C (122.9°F) was recorded in the southeastern Turkish city of Silopi on Friday.
Zoom in: Firefighters in Turkey have been battling since June dozens of fires that have killed at least 15 people, with a Turkish official reporting Sunday that 3,515 people were evacuated from villages threatened by fires in the northwestern province of Bursa.
- Hundreds more were evacuated from the northern province of Karabuk, while the western provinces of Bilecik and İzmir were on Friday declared disaster zones due to the fires.
- Firefighters in Greece were facing powerful winds as they tackled multiple fires, as temperatures in the center of the country exceeded well over 100°F over the weekend.
- "We have injured firefighters, human lives were put at risk, properties have been burned, and forest areas have been destroyed," climate crisis and civil protection minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said earlier, per the BBC.
Zoom out: The EU has deployed firefighting aircraft to Greece, Italy, Croatia and Hungary and sent firefighting equipment to Syria from Germany, and France this wildfire season.
Between the lines: More than two-thirds of most severe heat waves in Europe from 1950 onwards have occurred since 2000, according to data from the UN's World Meteorological Organization.
- "As a result of human-induced climate change, extreme heat is becoming more frequent and intense," per the WMO.
- The extreme heat is "leading to spikes in air pollution and a big risk of wildfires," the WMO notes. "This is coupled with a severe drought in some European countries."
- In addition to the wildfires, a report from the EU's Copernicus notes Turkey and the Balkans are experiencing intensifying extreme dry conditions that are impacting crops and vegetation.
- Parts of Cyprus and Greece "remain under persistent alert drought conditions, affecting the vegetation," according to Copernicus.
Go deeper: Climate change indicators hit record levels in 2024, UN study finds
