Weather lore

Around 9,000 people have been evacuated in northeastern Canada because of raging wildfires, officials said Saturday.

Residents of the towns of Labrador City and Wabush in Newfoundland and Labrador province were ordered to leave their homes, said provincial fire duty officer Jeff Motty.

A charred body was discovered in a car near a wildfire burning in agroforest land near Polichnitos on Lesvos island.

The elderly driver, believed to be the sole occupant, reportedly died when the vehicle veered off the road and hit a tree, igniting the fire.

A very high risk of fire (risk category 4) is predicted tomorrow in the Regional Units of Evros and Rodopi, as per the Fire Risk Prediction Map issued by the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

Additionally, temperatures will rise significantly on Friday, reaching the 40s in even more areas.

As a week-long heatwave continued on Thursday, authorities have issued a fire hazard warning for Friday.

According to the prediction map published by the Civil Protection Agency, two regions are considered to be at very high risk of wildfires, ranking at Level 4 (orange) out of a maximum of 5: They are Evros and Rodopi, in northeastern Greece.

Despite a widespread perception that the fire situation has improved this year, the data paint a different picture. 

More specifically, five times more land was burnt in June than the average from 2010 to 2024, according to data collected by the BEYOND Operational Unit of the Athens Observatory's Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications, and Remote Sensing.

Extreme wildfires are becoming more common, more intense and more of a pressing problem for public health. This week, more than 20,000 people in Northern California evacuated their homes as flames destroyed houses and cars.

Heavy lightning triggered two fires on the Greek island of Thassos on Wednesday, the fire brigade said, a day after firefighting forces tamed wildfires fanned by unusually strong winds on two other islands.

Wildfires are well and truly part of life now and everything is pointing to them being a big and constant threat. The state, for its part, seems to have acquired the means and the experience for dealing with them.

Greek firefighters battled a blaze on the islands of Kos for a second day on Tuesday, as hundreds of tourists and locals who had been forced to evacuate overnight returned to their hotels and homes.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday the country faced a dangerous summer for wildfires, with a prolonged drought and unusually strong winds contributing to tinderbox conditions.

Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean country, but hotter, drier and windier weather that scientists link to the effects of climate change has increased their frequency and intensity.