Tour operators began flying home holiday-makers as wildfires raged on the Greek island of Rhodes on Monday, and officials said the threat of further fires was high in almost every region of the country.
Fires burning since last week on Rhodes forced the evacuation of 19,000 people over the weekend as an inferno reached coastal resorts on the island's southeast.
Rhodes, which saw 2.5 million visitors in 2022, is one of the main tourist destinations in Greece, with hotels lining the island's coast.
This summer, the country experienced one of the longest heatwaves in recent years, according to experts, with the thermometer hitting 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) at the weekend.
A wildfire also forced evacuations from the island of Corfu.
Rhodes and Corfu are among Greece's top destinations for tourists, mainly from Britain and Germany.
"We are in the seventh day of the fire, and it hasn't been controlled," Rhodes Deputy Mayor Konstantinos Taraslias told state broadcaster ERT.
Tourists spent the night on the airport floor, waiting for repatriation flights, the first of which came overnight.
Holiday company TUI's UK and Ireland arm said it brought three plane-loads of passengers back to Britain from Rhodes and had plans to get everyone affected back as soon as possible.
"It was quite a bit of a struggle on the beach with the smoke," said John Hope, a tourist from Manchester, England.
Austrian tourist Mario Wiese said he had spent two days at Rhodes airport and had had to sort out his own return flight to Germany on Monday evening.
"We have been lying here for two days. There are no blankets, nothing. There are children lying here who need milk," he said.
"I had to organise everything myself because no one looks after us here. I don't understand it."
Evacuations by sea were underway on Corfu, where about 59 people were taken off a beach on Sunday. Footage from the island showed the skyline ablaze from fires in a mountain region.
On Rhodes, some holidaymakers said they walked for miles in scorching heat to reach safety. The fires left blackened trees and dead animals lying on the road near burnt-out cars.
Greece is often hit by wildfires during the summer months but the climate crisis has led to more extreme heatwaves across southern Europe.
Civil Protection said practically every region of Greece was facing the threat of wildfires on Monday ranging from "high, very high or state of alert".
Emergency services were also dealing with fires on the island of Evia, east of Athens, and Aigio, southwest of Athens.
