Two Greek firefighters have died after they became trapped tackling a wildfire that swept through the Rethymno area of Crete.
Gale-force winds whipped up the flames prompting the evacuation of several villages, in the latest summer wildfire to break out in Southern Europe.
In southern Turkey, the main Fethiye to Antalya highway had to be closed and part of a hospital evacuated because of a fire in Muğla province.
Meanwhile, a fourth heatwave of the summer has begun in Spain and France, and firefighters are trying to prevent a flare-up from major wildfires that have just been brought under control.
Witnesses said several fires broke out on Crete and spread fast, with the worst fire front extending as far as 15km (9.3 miles). The fire department said the two men who died were working near the western city of Rethymno.
Wildfires have also broken out elsewhere in Greece, on the islands of Paros and Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, and the southern town of Trifylia on the Greek mainland.
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned the next 12 hours will be “decisive” in putting out a wildfire near the capital Madrid. “Things are progressing favourably, with maximum caution,” he told reporters, because of higher temperatures, lower humidity and the risk of gusts of wind.
More than 43,000 hectares (108,000 acres) has already burned at Burgohondo in Ávila province, 150km (93 miles) west of Madrid. It is now considered the largest recorded wildfire in Spanish history. In total this year more than 207,000 hectares of land have been burned by wildfires in Spain.
One of the team directing firefighting operations, Francisco Bolaños, said that while the fire had not “moved a centimetre during the night”, there were concerns it could re-ignite because of the higher temperatures, and the focus was on stabilising a perimeter of 180km (112 miles).
