Thousands of residents and tourists have been evacuated from parts of Crete as a large wildfire, driven by violent winds, threatens villages and resorts. The crisis has also claimed the lives of three Greek firefighters, underlining the danger of fires spreading across southern Europe amid extreme heat and drought.

Around 8,000 people were moved overnight in Rethymno, where winds reached 125km/h and the uncontrolled fire front exceeds 15km; homes and farmland are believed to have been destroyed. Greece has deployed 224 firefighters, while major fires have also prompted evacuations in Spain, Portugal and Turkey; Spain’s Ávila fire has burned more than 43,000 hectares, and France’s Gironde fire about 42,000 hectares.