Europe has been hit by a wave of wildfires and blistering heat as a dangerous combination of high winds, drought, and soaring temperatures triggers mass evacuations.

Terrified beachgoers were seen fleeing by boat from beaches in Italy‘s Sardinia Island as fires surged inland.  

Dramatic scenes unfolded on July 27 at Villasimius in southern Sardinia, where flames tore down towards the shoreline, trapping dozens of beachgoers.

With roads cut off, tourists were rescued by boat, while many cars were engulfed in flames behind them. According to officials, strong winds were hindering rescue operations as people scrambled to get on the boats.

Wildfires over the past week have led to at least 14 deaths in Turkey and sparked the evacuations of 19 villages and more than 3,500 people elsewhere from their homes.

Turkey’s latest heatwave peaked with temperatures above 40C across much of the country last week and even reached a record 50.5C on Friday in the far southeast, in Silopi, near the Iraqi and Syrian borders. 

Officials fighting to keep the fires under control have called the situation ‘apocalyptic’, warning that it can take ‘days’ to control the worst of the infernos. A firefighter battling the flames died of a heart attack on Saturday.

Greece, too, has endured heatwave conditions for a week, with temperatures passing 40C degrees in many areas.

Over the weekend, 55 new fires erupted across the country, though all but five were brought under control.

In Greece, hundreds of firefighters are battling out-of-control infernos stretching from Crete to Evia and the Peloponnese, as locals and holidaymakers are ordered to abandon homes and hotels under choking clouds of smoke.

This month, a massive blaze erupted near Ierapetra, Crete, with walls of fire tearing through dry brush and hillside communities. With some fires still active, the UK’s Foreign Office has issued a travel advisory to the popular holiday destination. 

More than 1,500 people were officially evacuated, though reports suggest up to 5,000 tourists left on their own as flames crept dangerously close to coastal resorts

Fires are also raging on the mainland, with Evia, Kythera, Attica and the Peloponnese all on red alert. 

Authorities described the situation as a ‘titanic battle’, with reinforcements called in from EU partners to try and contain the devastation.

As flames spread through southern Turkey, the country registered its highest-ever temperature on July 25, with the town of Silopi in Şırnak Province hitting a blistering 50.5C, breaking the previous record of 49.1C set in 2021.

The unprecedented heat has turned huge swathes of countryside into a tinderbox, sparking dozens of wildfires in İzmir, Hatay, Bursa, Karabuk, Eskişehir and beyond.

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