Home / Weather News /

Is your holiday affected? Wildfires rage across Greek islands

11:00
24 July 2023

Is your holiday affected?
Wildfires rage across Greek islands

Massive dark clouds of smoke from a forest fire rise into the sky on the Greek island of Rhodes. Massive dark clouds of smoke from a forest fire rise into the sky on the Greek island of Rhodes. - © picture alliance

For thousands of tourists, summer holidays in Greece have become a nightmare, with forest fires out of control.

Rhodes

For days, fires have been burning in the densely forested centre of Rhodes. Initially, the fires were contained, but strong winds have fanned the flames once again as you can see on our WindRadar below.

Flames drifted directly toward villages in the south and southeast of the island. The resort of Lindos was particularly affected too.

Approximately 20,000 holidaymakers and tourists fled, and had to spend the night outdoors, in sports halls or schools - up to 10,000 of which are British tourists.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs activated a crisis team at the Civil Defence to take care of tourists, who had to be evacuated.

During this time of year, in peak tourist season, there is hardly any free accommodation. Many locals took in tourists to their homes and provided food, water and bedding.

Settings for external content

Privacy policy

Fires on other islands

Large fires have broken out on other islands too. In Corfu, evacuations of the popular resort of Nisaki have begun. Coastguard boats brought around 1,000 people to safety.

Major fires are also raging on the island of Evia, near Karystos, and on the Peloponnese peninsula near the small port town of Egion.

Hundreds of firefighters have arrived from Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Malta for reinforcement. France, Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel and Jordan are participating in the firefighting efforts with firefighting planes and helicopters.

Did you know?

99% of all forest fires are caused by human carelessness.

Long drought and heat wave

The relentless heatwave has had the southern and eastern Mediterranean region firmly in its grip for days.

In fact, Monday 24th July could see Europe's all-time temperature of 48.8°C broken in Sicily.

It also has not rained in Greece for quite some time. The last time a sufficient amount of rain fell in Rhodes for example, in the seaside resort of Paradessi, was in May.

More on the topic
Split image showing a night-time waterfall beneath sweeping star trails on the left, and a bright double rainbow over a calm lakeside with mountains, pier, and mist on the right.
Sunday 30 November 2025

Your weather - Your shots

From rainbow light to starlight
Weather map showing pink snowfall areas over the Great Lakes region. Snow showers are moving eastwards along the marked arrows. Several cities are affected by the snow bands.
Friday 28 November 2025

Lake effect phenomenon

Heavy snow showers in northern USA
Weather radar map of the UK and Ireland showing widespread blue precipitation bands with temperatures near major cities, overlaid by a large cloud with two blue raindrops.
Tuesday 2 December 2025

Close to record-breaking

A wet autumn season in the books
All weather news
This might also interest you
Split weather map showing the UK and Ireland. The left side illustrates strong winds circulating around a low-pressure system, with gusts of 20–30 mph highlighted in orange and yellow. The right side shows radar imagery with widespread blue rain bands and patches of thunderstorms, especially over northern England and Scotland.
Thursday 28 August 2025

Breakfast brief

Remaining widely unsettled
Sunday 17 August 2025

Your weather - Your shots

Summer shots from a warm week
Split weather map showing UK wind speeds in orange-red shades up to 40 mph on the left and warning levels in green-yellow on the right, with a central wind warning sign.
Wednesday 22 October 2025

Warnings active

Storm Benjamin impacts the UK
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwitteryouTubelinkList