 Satellite images have shown the devastating scale of how badly torched Greece has been after a week of wildfires. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes and abandon holidays on Greek islands including Rhodes and Corfu as the fires spread across the region. Today the fires reached the outskirts of Athens as gusts of winds caused flare up disrupting traffic and rail services. The fires have raged across parts of the country during three successive Mediterranean heatwaves over two weeks, leaving five people dead, including two firefighting pilots, and triggering a huge evacuation of tourists. The fires have been burning since last week on Rhodes, where temperatures have reached 45C, and the whole island has been put into a state of emergency. Near the central city of Volos, a wildfire burned on two fronts, forcing a section of Greece's busiest motorway to shut for several hours, while national rail services passing through the area were delayed. The Kiotari coastline has been badly hit by the wildfires (Picture: Getty) Firefighters also battled flames on Rhodes for a 10th successive day, while flare-ups were reported on the island of Evia. Wildfire carbon emissions for July in Greece were the highest by a huge margin – totalling over one metric megaton and doubling the previous record – since records started 20 years ago, according to the European Union agency that analyses satellite data, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the agency said: 'Unfortunately, it is not all that surprising, given the extreme conditions in the region. 'The observed intensity and estimated emissions show how unusual the scale of the fires have been for July relative to the last 20 years of data.' In Athens, at a ceremony held at the defence ministry, senior members of the armed forces paid tri){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Satellite images have shown the devastating scale of how badly torched Greece has been after a week of wildfires.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes and abandon holidays on Greek islands including Rhodes and Corfu as the fires spread across the region.
In Rhodes a black scar has been scorched across the middle of the island to the southern town of Kiotari.
Today the fires reached the outskirts of Athens as gusts of winds caused flare up disrupting traffic and rail services.