It’s expected that the wildfires raging throughout Corfu and Rhodes could worsen this week as high temperatures return to most of Europe.
Earlier this month, the Cerberus anticyclone system moved northward over the continent, causing sweltering temperatures and even a hazard to life alert in Italy due to the severe heat.
However, Charon, a second heatwave, has taken the place of Cerberus and could return temperatures to about 45°C across the continent, according to the MailOnline.
Thousands of tourists, including an estimated 7,000-10,000 Brits, have been forced to sleep on the floor of Rhodes International Airport this morning as they wait to be taken home amid expansive wildfires.
Others were left to sleep on sun beds as hotels in safer areas filled up with evacuating tourists.
Yesterday Corfu, a popular holiday destination, became the second Greek holiday hotspot to be devastated by wildfires.
Winds of up to 35mph have made it even harder for firefighters to put out the destructive fires.
With temperatures expected to hit 45°C, the Ministry for Civil Protection warned of a very high risk of wildfires in almost half of Greece.
A British couple have told of their ‘nightmare’ time on Rhodes while celebrating their wedding anniversary.
Laura and Marc Hall were supposed to fly back to the UK on Friday, and described ash falling in their drinks as they were told to stand by at their hotel.
The couple were evacuated to a basketball stadium and slept on the floor overnight.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mrs Hall said: ‘It’s been a nightmare, on Saturday night we were just having a drink and we knew that other places had been evacuated but we were just told to stand by.
‘There was ash falling in our drinks and we could just see a blaze in the distance and a load of smoke, we were told not to do anything and then all of a sudden we had alarms going off on our phone and the waiter was saying standby, shouting “mayday, mayday”.
‘So it was just a mad panic, we all started packing, we were just told to wait and we might have to evacuate, so we just stayed in our rooms and at 3am we get a call, we’ve got to go.’