Greece fires: Pilot tells tourists flying to Rhodes is ‘terrible idea’ before takeoff

A passenger recalled his evacuation from Rhodes after arriving back at Gatwick Airport.

Up to 10,000 Britons are estimated to be on the fire-ravaged Greek island, with repatriation flights to rescue holidaymakers landing back in the UK.

Dominic Doggett explained how he “stayed on the office floor” of a hotel, before driving through the night to find other accommodation.

“It was a very unique situation, but luckily we had a hire car there so we were able to drive away,” he explained.

Human-induced climate change is responsible for the historic heatwaves sweeping the planet from China to the United States, scientists have found.

The research conducted by World Weather Attribution (WWA), which was released on Tuesday, says the record-shattering heat in Europe and the US would have been almost “impossible” in a world without global heating.

The researchers, who analysed records in all three continents, said the likelihood of extreme heat in China, which recently recorded its highest-ever temperature at 52.2C, is now 50 times more likely due to the climate crisis.

Tens of thousands of Britons face having their holidays cancelled this summer as hotels in fire-ravaged Rhodes could be closed for at least the next couple of weeks, it has been reported.

Around 30,000 tourists have been left in limbo as tour operators are planning for possible further cancellations, according to The Times.

Greece battled to contain wildfires on the island of Rhodes for a seventh day on Tuesday, as hundreds of tourists who had been forced to evacuate in previous days were expected to fly back to their countries.

Some 20,000 people had to leave homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend as the inferno that began a week ago spread and reached coastal resorts on the verdant island’s southeast, after charring swathes of land and damaging buildings.

More than 2,000 holidaymakers returned home by plane on Monday, and more repatriation flights were expected on Tuesday. Tour operators also cancelled upcoming trips.

More evacuations were ordered as the week-long wildfire on the Greek resort island of Rhodes tore past defences due to strong winds, leaving local residents in scrambles.

Satellite images revealed the extent of devastation caused by the wildfire which has charred the central part of the island, burning down homes, cars and livestock.

Images from 20 July show smoke billowing from only a small part of the island, whereas the satellite pictures taken just three days later reveal a massive portion of scorched land in the central part of the island.

Ryanair is operating a “full schedule” to wildfire-hit Greece, including the battered island of Rhodes, as evacuation flights continue to bring back Britons.

“Airports remain open so we’re continuing to fly in there,” Neil Sorahan, the carrier’s chief financial officer told Sky News.

“We’ve got a number of customers who are keen to come home, some people still want to do down there so we’ll continue to fly in and out and as long as it’s safe to do so and as long as the airports remain open, we’ll be there.”

Other airlines such as Jet2, TUI UK and Correndon have cancelled flights to Rhodes at least till Friday 28 July.

The Palermo international airport was shut down overnight after a raging wildfire entered its perimeter. Temperatures in Palermo rose to a record 47C on Monday.

Wildfires spread through Sicily due to dry weather as Europe battles a severe heatwave this summer.

Firefighters on Monday deployed helicopters and a Canadair firefighting plane to dump water in parts of Sicily to bring the blaze under control.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from towns and villages across Greece after wildfires ravaged the country.

Videos of roaring fires and towering black smoke have circulated online from Rhodes and Corfu. However, wildfires have erupted across several areas including Evia and the Peloponnese region.

Maps show areas in Rhodes affected by raging wildfires:

Multiple wildfires in Algeria have killed at least 25 people, including 10 soldiers trying to bring the flames under control.

At least 1,500 people were evacuated as the wildfires moved across forests and agricultural areas in 16 regions of the north African country, the interior ministry said.

The largest and deadliest fires ravaged parts of Bejaia and Jijel in the Kabyle region east of Algiers and Bouire, located nearly 100km southeast of Algiers.