Wildfires rage in Greece as firefighters continue battle in France and Spain

ATHENS, Aug 1 - Wildfires fanned by heavy winds burned across multiple areas of Greece on Saturday, including near Athens, with large-scale firefighting operations and emergency evacuations underway, while 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. 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.

In France, a fire in the mountainous southeastern 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, according to BFM TV.

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

SPANISH CONDITIONS MIXED

Spain continued battling several wildfire hot spots on Saturday, two days after the government declared the end of a national emergency caused by huge fires in the country's central provinces.

Conditions worsened in the northern province of Leon, where a new blaze broke out on Friday night, another remained active and a third was evolving favourably, according to authorities. In neighbouring Zamora province, a fire that ravaged about 11,000 hectares improved enough for 14 evacuated towns to reopen and restrictions to be lifted.

In the eastern province of Castellon, the Vall d'Uixo fire was stabilised on its seventh day after burning nearly 10,000 hectares, allowing all evacuated residents to return. Police said they suspected arson after finding two separate ignition points.

Major fires in the central regions of Madrid and Avila, which burned more than 70,000 hectares, were stabilised, though a new outbreak near the San Juan reservoir was extinguished on Friday.

EMERGENCY ALERTS

Greek authorities issued emergency alerts for several areas for Saturday and warned of extreme wildfire risk in the regions of Attica and Evia.

More than 300 firefighters, 92 firefighting trucks, heavy machinery and aircraft have continued to battle a conflagration in the region of Boeotia, where over 200 people from the town of Agios Vasileios, about 80 kilometres northwest of Athens, had to be evacuated by sea.

Another 12 people, fleeing the same blaze, were evacuated from the beach in Porto Germeno by Greek Coast Guard patrol boats and a Fire Service vessel.

Firefighting operations have also continued overnight in the regions of Argolida and Arta.

In Austria, the country's Agency for Health and Food Safety reported a record 395 heat-related deaths for the month of June. Around half of the weather stations in Austria reported temperatures of at least 35 degrees Celsius during June, while 15 stations logged temperatures of 39 C or higher.

Earlier this week, the UK said an estimated 2,877 people in Britain had died from heat-related causes so far this year while France reported 5,764 excess deaths in the country between June 17 and July 2, and Germany's RKI health body estimated 9,800 people had died so far this year linked to the high temperatures.

POWER OUTPUT HIT

Production of nuclear power in Hungary and hydropower in Serbia has fallen because of record low water levels along the Danube, which flows from Germany to the Black Sea.

River transport is also affected in Hungary, Serbia and Romania, with barges forced to significantly reduce loads to pass through narrowing shipping lanes. Serbia's fuel imports fell to a quarter of its July target as barges and tankers cut loads.

Romania’s state nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica also had to shut one of its two reactors earlier this week due to low river levels, with the second expected to soon follow, potentially depriving the country of a fifth of its electricity needs. REUTERS