Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday (August 5) emergency services faced a difficult night ahead as wildfires north of Athens leapt back to life and westerly winds were set to strengthen, Reuters reports.
“Unfortunately the worse is yet to come and the night ahead seems menacing. Tomorrow we expect strong western winds in many areas of our country,” he said in a special televised address.
Mitsotakis urged people to comply with evacuation orders and avoid unnecessary travel and authorities warned of more blazes on Friday (August 6) as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit).
With swathes of neighboring Turkey also aflame, the smoke-filled skies have added to apocalyptic images of floods and fire seen across Europe this summer.
Mitsotakis said defenses against the reality of climate change had to be strengthened. He said there would be time for "criticism and self-criticism" of the government's handling of the crisis but for the moment urged citizens to remain united.
Earlier, he visited an area in the western Peloponnese near the site of the ancient Olympic Games where firefighters fought all night to save one of Greece's best known archaeological sites.
Firefighters, backed by water bombing fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, had managed to control some of the blazes near Athens earlier in the day.
