Number of wildfires 22% higher since start of 2024

Greece experienced 3,543 wildfires between January 1 and May 1, a rise of 22% compared to last year’s 2,907 blazes, according to the Fire Service, which is bracing for a very difficult season. 

What is causing particular alarm is that “some of these fires displayed characteristics similar to blazes we would expect during the summer,” Theodore Giannaros, an expert at the National Observatory of Athens, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

“We are also very alarmed by the fact that we had a blaze at a very high altitude in the Pierian Mountains, which should have been covered by snow that would have prevented such a fire from starting,” he added.

The head of research at the NOA, Kostas Lagouvardos, meanwhile, added that low rainfall over the past few months is also compounding fears, with the European Drought Observatory having already issued a warning for Greece.