ATHENS: Wildfires fanned by heavy winds pushed firefighters in Greece to the limit on Saturday as blazes raged across multiple areas, including near Athens, with large-scale firefighting operations and emergency evacuations underway.

At the same time, conditions worsened again in parts of Spain and France.

Europe has been ravaged by wildfires this summer after a period of successive record-breaking heatwaves and little rain.

An unknown number of villages in France and Spain have been destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and holiday accommodation.

Blazes fed by gale-force winds flared up across Greece, which until recent days had experienced fewer heatwaves and a relatively quiet fire season.

Conditions worsen in France, Spain

A live video feed showed firefighters, police and ambulances slowly withdrawing before a wall of fire and smoke that engulfed forests and shrub in the mountainous terrain of Agia Paraskevi, near Porto Germeno, about 60 kilometres northwest of the capital Athens.

Authorities said strong winds were hampering firefighting efforts, making them impossible in places.

Fire flares again in France

In France, a fire in the mountainous south-eastern Var department, which had been brought under control three days ago, flared up again on Friday, sweeping across more than 1,000 hectares in six hours.

French interior minister Laurent Nunez told reporters the situation in Var was “very serious” and that fires have affected 119,000 hectares in the country so far this year.

“It’s not at all under control,” said Eric Grohin, director of Var’s fire and rescue service, adding the situation remained “very complicated”, with temperatures at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and winds set to pick up.

Local prefect Simon Babre also said several flare-ups had been dealt with on Saturday by firefighting aircraft and more than 1,500 personnel on the ground.

Nearly 2,500 people were evacuated overnight, with firefighters bringing in reinforcements when winds were expected to strengthen and complicate efforts to control the blaze.

In southwestern France, the South Gironde animal sanctuary was treating deer that had escaped a massive fire near Bordeaux that burned for more than a week, but suffered burns or accidents due to panic, such as collisions with cars or fences, said manager Patrick Meng.

“There are hundreds of thousands of (animal) deaths; it’s a catastrophe,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2026