Greece is entering the “most critical period” for wildfires so far this summer, as temperatures continue to soar to over 40C. Extreme heat and dry conditions are threatening to cause even more chaos, as firefighters continue to battle flames in the Peloponnese region.
Wildfires have been raging there since Tuesday, forcing authorities to evacuate villages. Emergency officials deployed hundreds of firefighters to the municipality of Corinth on Thursday, where four new fires broke out. They were supported by 30 planes and helicopters, as authorities struggled to prevent the fires from spreading even further.
The fires have burned 1,145 hectares (2,830 acres), the equivalent of about 1,600 football pitches, according to European monitoring service Copernicus.
Worse could be to come, as the baking hot weather has created tinder dry conditions among surrounding vegetation.
Scientists from the Meteo Unit at the Institute for Environmental Research warned that the country was entering the “the most critical period of deterioration of pyro-meteorological conditions”.
They said: “The cumulative effect of the very hot and dry conditions prevailing in our country already from Sunday 20 July 2025 has led to a significant increase in the flammability of forest fuels, making it very easy for fires to start, large heat loads to develop, fire to spread rapidly, and spotting to occur.”
The researchers added that high winds that are forecast over the next few days could help spread the fires. “From today until Saturday 26 July 2025, north/northeast (N/NE) winds are expected to strengthen in the eastern mainland and the Aegean Sea, which will lead to a significant strengthening of the potential for wind-driven fires (especially on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 July 2025),” they explained.
“The above leads to a significant and potentially dangerous escalation of fire weather risk, so the difficulty of controlling any incidents that may occur will be very high and locally extreme.”
Greece has already been hit by a series of heatwave-fuelled wildfires this summer, as temperatures soar.
This included one that forced the closure of the Acropolis in Athens, its top archaeological monument, earlier this month.
Scientists say climate change is increasing both the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires.
Next week is expected to see some relief from the heat, as temperatures are forecast to fall from the forties to the mid thirties Celsius by Tuesday or Wednesday in Athens and Kos.