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
Weather map with heavy rain warning over Southern California, warning symbol in the centre.
Saturday 15 November 2025

Severe weather conditions

Heavy rainfall in California
Weather map of the UK and Ireland showing orange-red wind zones with gusts up to 40 mph near Dublin and Glasgow, overlaid with a triangular wind warning symbol on the left.
Friday 14 November 2025

Turbulent Saturday

Gusting start to the weekend
plit weather map showing rain and wind warnings across the UK and Ireland. The left side displays radar imagery with widespread rain, especially over Ireland and western Britain, and temperatures between 7°C and 14°C. The right side shows a warning map highlighting yellow wind alerts for much of western and central Britain and Ireland. A wind warning symbol appears at the centre.
Monday 10 November 2025

Stormy Tuesday

Rain and gusting winds prompt warnings
All weather news
This might also interest you
Friday 22 August 2025

Breakfast brief

Sunny start for some, overcast later
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
All articles
Weather & Radar

www.weatherandradar.ie

facebooktwitteryouTubeContact uslinkList
Privacy Policy | Legal info | Accessibility statement