Wildfires have torn through a Turkish holiday destination – causing chaos for tourists as hundreds of passengers were left stranded.
A huge fire ripped through the popular resort of Foça, İzmir, before strong winds fanned the flames and sent it towards neighbourhoods and residential areas.
One suspect has been accused of starting the fire when they allegedly set fire to their own house, and tinder-dry conditions saw the blaze spread at pace.
It comes as Europe is gripped by a ‘heat dome’, which is causing havoc across the continent.
Firefighters mobilised in several nations to tackle blazes as scores of locals in the south sought shelter from punishing temperatures of a heatwave that is set to intensify in the coming days.
Authorities from Spain to Portugal, Italy and France urged people to seek shelter and protect the most vulnerable from the summer’s first major heatwave.
Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.
In the wake of the fire in Turkey, flights at İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport as of 4pm local time, The Sun reported.
Hundreds of passengers have now been left stranded as a result of the blazes.
Planes were seen dumping large amounts of water over the infernos in an attempt to fight the blazes.
Huge fires broke out in Izmir, Turkey, causing travel chaos for hundreds of passengers
Residents watched on in horror as the fire spread into neighbourhoods
Hundreds of locals were evacuated from their homes as the inferno tore through residential buildings
Residents watched in horror as their homes went up in flames while firefighters spent more than 22 hours tackling the huge blaze across İzmir.
The major emergency response involved 625 personnel, including six helicopters, 46 fire engines, nine bulldozers and 13 water supply vehicles.
Around 550 residents were evacuated from some 175 homes in Ilıpınar, Foça.
Four firefighters were reportedly affected by smoke poisoning, with two of them taken to hospital.
The exact cause of the fire remains unknown. Another suggestion is that the fire may have been caused by a high-voltage power line.
Governor Süleyman Elban urged residents to be cautious over the next few days.
He said low humidity and high temperatures could lead to more fires.
The governor said: ‘We expect the next four or five days to be very hot, with strong winds and low humidity. These conditions are perfect for a fire.
Firefighters spent more than 22 hours tackling the huge blaze across the town
Four firefighters were reportedly affected by smoke poisoning, with two of them taken to hospital
One suspect has been accused of starting the fire when they allegedly set fire to their own house
‘Everyone’s life is at stake. We must all be extremely cautious.’
Wildfires were also reported in Kahramanmaraş, Bursa, Sakarya, Bilecik, Gaziantep, Bolu and Manisa this week.
Environment Minister Murat Kurum said 23 houses and 47 units in 3 villages were destroyed in forest fires in Bilecik, while 41 houses and 25 barns and warehouses were also severely damaged.
It came as authorities from Spain to Portugal, Italy and France urged people to seek shelter and protect the most vulnerable from the summer’s first major heatwave.
Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.
In Turkey, forest fires broke out Sunday afternoon in the western Izmir province, fed by strong winds, local media reported.
In France, meanwhile, wildfires broke out in the Corbieres area of Aude in the southwest, where temperatures topped 40C, forcing the evacuation of a campsite and abbey as a precaution.
The country’s weather service Meteo France put a record 84 out of its 101 regional departments on an orange heatwave alert – the second-highest – for Monday.
Spain’s weather service AEMET said temperatures in Extremadura and Andalusia, in the south and southwest, had reached up to 44C Sunday and issued a special warning amid the heatwave.
Several areas in the southern half of Portugal, including Lisbon, are under a red warning until Monday night, said the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).
Two-thirds of Portugal was also on high alert Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires – as was the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters tackled 15 blazes Saturday.
In Italy, 21 cities were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence and Rome.
‘We were supposed to be visiting the Colosseum, but my mum nearly fainted,’ said British tourist Anna Becker, who had travelled to Rome from a ‘muggy, miserable’ Verona.
Hospital emergency departments across Italy have reported an uptick in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine.
‘We’ve seen around a 10 percent increase, mainly in cities that not only have very high temperatures but also a higher humidity rate. It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,’ he said.
In Venice, authorities offered free guided tours for people over 75s in air-conditioned museums and public buildings. Meanwhile, temperatures are set to soar to 34C in the UK on Monday.
Britain bathed in balmy 30C heat on Sunday to round off a sweltering weekend and there is set to be no relief overnight, with temperatures in England and Northern Ireland remaining in the late teens.
And things will get even toastier at the start of next week with the mercury reaching 26C in the southeast by 10am on Monday before hitting highs in the mid 30s by the afternoon.
A weather map shows that London and the southeast will experience the highest figures, with 31C expected in the Midlands and 28C in the northwest and west of the country.
The Met Office wrote on X: ‘Here is the 4cast for Monday. Hot across southeast England in particular with temperatures reaching 34 Celsius.’
The toasty temperatures will threaten the UK’s June record of 35.6C – set in the famously hot summer of 1976.
It comes after fires devastated towns in Greece, where some regions have had to declare a state of emergency.
On Thursday, a violent forest fire devastated several seaside towns east of Athens, damaging homes and prompting dozens of evacuations in a popular destination for Greek and foreign tourists.
The fire broke around 12.30pm local time (9.30am UK time) near the towns of Palaia Fokaia and Thymari, around 30 miles east of Athens, and forced the evacuation of five villages, according to Greek firefighters.
It comes on the heels of another fire on the island of Chios – Greece’s fifth-largest island – which as of Wednesday had destroyed more than 10,000 acres of land in four days.
Temperatures reached up to 40 degrees Celsius in the Athens region on Thursday, with forecasts indicating that the heatwave could continue until Saturday.
In the previous 24 hours, 45 fires had broken out in Greece, firefighters said.
A firefighting helicopter drops water while battling a blaze in the seaside area of Palaia Fokaia, south of Athens, Thursday, June 26, 2025
Thick smoke from a burning house fills the air as a wildfire burns in the coastal region of Palaia Fokaia, some 40km southeast of Athens, Greece, 26 June 2025
Earlier this week, hundreds of firefighters backed up by aircraft were battling a wildfire burning out of control for the three days on the Greek island of Chios.
Towering walls of flames tore through forest and agricultural land on the island as reinforcements were hurried in from Athens, Thessaloniki and the nearby island of Lesbos.
By Tuesday morning, the fire department said 444 firefighters with 85 vehicles were tackling the blaze on scattered fronts.
Eleven helicopters and two water-dropping planes were providing air support.
Emergency services issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area, when fires broke out near the island’s main town.
Apocalyptic scenes captured in images and videos showed firefighters battling the flames as the wildfires raged on, while thick plumes of black smoke filled the sky.
Other footage showed helicopters spraying water over smoke-filled fields.
The fire department has sent an arson investigation team to Chios to examine the cause of the blaze.
Firefighters try to tackle a wildfire burning on Chios island, Greece, June 23, 2025
A firefighting helicopter in action during wildfire operations on Chios Island
Greece has declared a state of emergency as wildfires burned for the third day in the island of Chios
‘We are faced with simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island – a pattern that cannot be considered coincidental,’ Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said Monday from Chios.
Authorities, he said, were ‘very seriously examining the possibility of an organized criminal act, in other words arson.’
The minister said police forces on the island had been reinforced, while military patrols had been doubled.
‘Whoever thinks that they can play with the lives of citizens and cause chaos with premeditated actions will be led to court,’ Kefalogiannis said.
‘Arson is a serious crime and will be dealt with as such.’
