Wildfires rage across Europe as tourists and residents forced to flee

Wildfires are forcing evacuations and causing widespread damage across Europe, with thousands of people affected by blazes from Croatia to England.

A wildfire in Croatia driven ‌by strong winds swept into the tourist town of Omis on Friday, ‌forcing hundreds to evacuate and leaving 19 injured.

Authorities in Germany ordered about 1,800 people to evacuate their homes in the early hours of Friday, after a wildfire in the western region spread towards a village close to the border with Belgium.

In France, authorities evacuated 525 villagers after a wildfire broke out in the pine woods of the southwestern Landes region, near an area already devastated by major blazes this summer.

Hot weather and drought that ‌scientists link to climate change have created ideal conditions for wildfires ​across Europe this summer, especially in France, ​Spain and Greece. The Balkans has also endured several heatwaves.

In Croatia, flames enveloped settlements ​and trees and turned the night sky red above Omis, a scenic town on Croatia’s prized Dalmatian coast surrounded by trees and ​rocky hills.

Around 19 people have been treated by ambulance services, N1 reported. ⁠Two with serious injuries were transferred to a hospital ‌in ‌the ​city of Split, about 25 km to the north, regional governor Blazenko Boban ⁠said. “We have had ​an extremely difficult night, we ​have a complicated situation in the area from Lokva Rogoznica ‌to Omis,” Chief Fire Commander ​Slavko Tucaković told local outlets.

The town opened its sports hall as an emergency shelter, where around 1,000 people were ‌accommodated overnight. A navy ⁠boat was in place to offer evacuations by sea, local media said.

A total of 157 firefighters ⁠and 44 fire vehicles ⁠battled ​the blaze through the night. A stretch of a major coastal highway in the area was shut.

In England, fire crews are making progress tackling huge blazes in the West Midlands that led to thousands of 999 calls and caused “extensive” devastation, a fire chief said.

In Germany, residents were told early this morning they should leave the village of Gey at once and go to an assistance centre set up at a primary school in the nearby village of Strass.

They were urged to carry only essential belongings, identification papers and necessary medicines.

On Thursday, authorities said a major emergency response was triggered by a wildfire affecting about 25 hectares of nearby woodland.

Large swathes of Germany are tackling dry conditions and high risks of forest fires, weather officials say.

French authorities evacuated 525 villagers after a wildfire broke out in the pine woods of the southwestern Landes region, near an area already devastated by major blazes this summer.

The fire, which razed 1,100 hectares after it began on Thursday, spread to within 2 km of the centre of the village of Luglon, regional official Gilles Clavreul told reporters on Friday.

“The situation is unfavourable,” he said, adding that 500 firefighters were tackling the flames, with the help of six aircraft sent to assist.

Police have taken to safety 525 in the village, with road links to the north and south closed.

In Greece, tourists and residents fled villages in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece by land and sea on Thursday as a wildfire fanned by strong winds engulfed houses and trees near a resort during the heart of holiday season.