Major wildfires sweep through north, south and east Greece

Fierce wildfires are sweeping through the north, south and east of Greece on Sunday, as a scorching heatwave boils the country. 

Hundreds of residents and tourists have been evacuated from the east Aegean island of Lesbos after forest fires, which broke out yesterday, destroyed homes and threatened villages. 

Greece is currently in the grips of a heat wave with temperatures of 42°C expected in some regions. The extreme weather is forecast to last 10 days, raising fears of other fires.

In the north of the country, firefighters and volunteers are battling -- for the fourth consecutive day ---  a fierce fire in the Dadia National Park, a protected nature reserve, known for its colony of vultures.

This fire forced the evacuation of the village of Dadia Saturday evening, while residents of Chrysokelari in the Peloponnese had to flee blazes near Koroni. 

Extreme weather events, such as forest fires and heatwaves, are becoming more frequent and intense because of human-induced climate change.

Experts have warned that these trends will continue to worsen and grow more severe unless people and governments around the world make significant cuts to their greenhouse gas emissions.

On the island of Lesbos, the fire, which started in the mountainous forests to the west of the island, has spread on two fronts. One towards the village of Vrisa, the other towards the beach resort of Vatera, where at least four homes have been damaged.  

Both fires are still raging, as of Sunday. 

Strong winds in the area are making it harder for emergency services to extinguish the flames. 

“We are battling to save homes,” Taxiarchis Verros, mayor of western Lesbos, told the Greek broadcaster.

81 firefighters with 19 vehicles, 5 civil groups, 9 aircraft and 1