Greece wildfires: Hundreds forced to evacuate Rhodes Island due to blazes caused by intense heatwave

Backed by air water bombers and Slovakian reinforcements, local firefighters on the Greek island of Rhodes struggled with new outbreaks of the wildfires on Saturday.

An intense heatwave that's hit the country for the last six days forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from affected villages and beaches over the weekend, authorities said.

Coastguard vessels and private boats took part in an operation to transport approximately 1,000 people from beaches close to the areas of Kiotari and Lardos, a coastguard official said.

"The situation in Rhodes is serious and extremely difficult. Due to the strong wind and quickly changing direction of the fire, firefighters had to withdraw and move," Slovak Fire and Rescue Services said.

Temperatures are expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius all weekend and meteorologists have warned that similar temperatures may last until the end of July.

On Friday, the Greek government announced relief measures for affected households, including financial aid and subsidies to rent homes in unaffected regions.

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