Major vegetation fires in Greece, against the background of a persistent heat wave. Temperatures over 45 degrees
Fire in Krionery, a suburb of the northwest of Athens on Saturday, July 26, 2025. Credit: Yorgos Karahalis / AP / Profimedia
The Greek emergency services were fighting with numerous vegetation fires on Saturday afternoon, while the heat wave that lasts for almost a week has reached a peak, with temperatures that exceeded 45 degrees Celsius, AFP reports.
According to firefighters, one of the most difficult fronts was the one around Drosopigi, in Attica, just 30 kilometers north of Athens.
The authorities have requested the evacuation of the locality. According to Ertnews state television, a house was already in flames in Drosopigi, where gusts of 5 to 6 degrees Beaufort were ravaging.
The authorities had warned that for Saturdays there is an extremely vegetation risk, placing several regions under category 5 red alerts, the largest on a national scale, due to heat and dry conditions.
The heat wave started on Monday
The meteorological service of the country estimates that the heat wave will end on Monday, a week since it started.
According to the National Observatory in Athens, the highest temperature recorded on Friday was 45.8 degrees Celsius, in Messinia in the Peloponnese, and on Saturday the temperatures reached 45.2 degrees Celsius in Amphilohia, in western Greece.
About 100 firefighters were fighting the fires in the area of Drosopigi, with 36 vehicles, two aircraft and three helicopters, the news agency in Athens said.
On the island of Evia, next to the Attica region in which Athens is located, a fire was outside any control. Two firefighters were destroyed, while two firefighters were transported to the hospital with light injuries.
A vegetation fire that broke out on Saturday morning in an agricultural and forested area on the island of Kythira, southern Greece, was also burning.
In support of local firefighters, 16 firefighters and six firefighters were sent to Kythira.
In Messinia, in the Peloponnese, a fire broke out at noon and quickly escaped control.
Currently, 84 firefighters operate in the area, with 30 special vehicles and air support from seven aircraft and two helicopters.
Large areas of Attica, Peloponnese and Evia are still under the highest level of alert.
