Europe's heatwaves

Fires in 100 places in Bulgaria – villages evacuated

Forest fires are raging in several places in Europe. In Bulgaria, the fire service fought fires in almost a hundred places in the country on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Houses have burned down and residents have been evacuated, the news agency writes, referring to local media. A fire spread over thousands of hectares of forest at the foot of the Pirin Mountain in southwestern Bulgaria.

- It is a merciless tragedy, in all my years of firefighting I have never seen anything like it, says fire service volunteer Zvezdelin Vlaykov.

A state of emergency has been declared in the worst-hit areas, writes TT.

Turkey's fourth-largest city threatened by forest fires

The forest fires that have plagued Turkey for weeks are now threatening the country's fourth-largest city, Bursa, writes AP.

During the night, fires in the mountainous areas around the city have spread quickly and colored the night sky red.

1,765 people have been evacuated from villages outside Bursa and 1,100 firefighters are battling the flames.

The highway between Bursa and the capital Ankara has been closed.

Unusually high temperatures, drought and strong winds have exacerbated the fires. On Saturday, the Turkish Meteorological Institute reported that a record-breaking 50.5 degrees Celsius was measured in the province of Sirnak.

Beehives and olive trees in flames: "Monasteries in immediate danger"

The Czech Republic and Italy are sending planes and firefighters to Greece to help with the large forest fires, writes AFP.

Fires are raging in the Peloponnese west of Athens and on the islands of Evia and Kythera.

- Today is expected to be a difficult day with a very high fire risk almost everywhere, says rescue service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.

On Kythera, which is a popular island with tourists, evacuation text messages have gone out.

- Houses, beehives, olive trees have burned. A monastery is in immediate danger right now, says deputy mayor Giorgos Komninos.