Firefighters race to contain wildfires in Greece as thousands evacuated
Ierapetra mayor Manolis Frangoulis said firefighters were working to prevent flare-ups and take advantage of a lull in high winds.
'Thankfully no one was hurt but it's a difficult situation,' he said.
Displaced tourists were relocated to other hotels or spent the night in an indoor basketball stadium. Several homes and businesses were damaged.
Separately on Thursday, a wildfire near the port of Rafina, about 20 miles east of Athens, disrupted local ferry services to the islands.
Police went door-to-door to assist elderly residents while carrying out an evacuation order.
In western Turkey, a local forestry worker was killed while trying to contain a fire near the town of Odemis, and an 81-year-old resident died from smoke inhalation, authorities said. It marked the first fatalities in a series of wildfires that have forced thousands to flee.
Meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters, supported by aircraft and helicopters, were deployed to battle a wildfire near the Aegean coastal town of Cesme, a popular holiday destination about 120 miles west of Odemis.
That fire, which began on Wednesday, forced the evacuation of three neighbourhoods and led to road closures. Television footage showed flames racing through dry vegetation on both sides of a major road.
Over the past week, Turkey has battled hundreds of wildfires fuelled by strong winds, extreme heat and low humidity. Now mostly under control, the blazes have damaged or destroyed about 200 homes.
Summer wildfires are common in both Greece and Turkey, where experts warn that climate change is intensifying conditions.
Late Wednesday, Turkey's parliament adopted a landmark climate law targeting net-zero emissions by 2053. The legislation includes measures to establish a carbon market board to oversee efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The law comes at a time when Turkey is increasingly grappling with issues related to climate change, from searing heatwaves to prolonged droughts, experts say.
'As a Mediterranean country, Turkey is highly vulnerable to climate change,' said Gizem Koc, a lawyer with the UK-based environmental advocacy group ClientEarth.
'The most striking vulnerability is the drought and water stress in some regions, but also there is increasing frequency of floods and other extreme weather events.'
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
How beavers could become key to preventing droughts
Conservationists are championing river restoration and the reintroduction of beavers as crucial strategies to build landscape resilience against the escalating risk of drought. With two northern regions already in drought thanks to the UK 's driest spring in 132 years, the South West of England offers a compelling case study. Despite receiving only half its average spring rainfall, the National Trust 's Holnicote estate on Exmoor, Somerset, has maintained lush vegetation and thriving wetlands thanks to extensive river restoration work. The estate's 'Riverlands' project, launched in 2020, released beavers into two enclosures and worked to restore the River Aller to a 'stage zero' state – its natural, multi-channelled form with pools and shallow riffles, as it would have been before human interference. This approach, pioneered in Oregon, US, involved diggers moving over 4,000 tonnes of earth and laying hundreds of logs within the floodplain, marking the UK's first attempt at scale on a main river. Thousands of wetland trees were also planted and wildflower seeds sown to attract pollinators, demonstrating how natural solutions can help landscapes adapt to the increasing extremes of climate change. The project to give the river space and connect to its floodplain, completed just two years ago, has created a new natural landscape from once neat agricultural fields, with channels, pools, wetlands and marshes. The wetlands are rich in plants, the young trees are starting to grow and meadows in the floodplain are full of wildflowers. The landscape – along with the nearby beaver wet woodland – slows down the flow of water and holds it in the landscape to reduce flooding and counteract drought, as well as reducing pollution and loss of sediment, the Trust said. The wetlands that have been created are habitat for water voles, as well as an array of birds, insects and fish including eels. Ben Eardley, senior project manager for the National Trust in Somerset, said curbing flooding was a big part of the reason for the project, with communities downstream at Allerford and Bossington suffering from floods in the past. 'But then increasingly, you can see the impacts of hotter dry weather which I think are equally important in addressing,' he said. While some restoration schemes only improve the river channel itself, the work at Holnicote makes the wider landscape more resilient, he suggested. Even after the dry spring, the beaver enclosures, where the animals have created pools, dams and woodland clearings, were still 'brim full' of water, while the restored river catchment stays wet year-round, Mr Eardley said. The denser vegetation acts like a blanket on the soil, holding moisture in and keeping the soil temperature more consistent, he added. 'It's a combination of different things that lead to more resilience. 'And it's not saying that you have to have all of those things everywhere, but if you've got more diverse landscape with a greater mosaic of different habitats. then just by default, you'll have greater resilience,' he said. Farmers and landowners are among those who visit the 'exemplar' river restoration project, which comes amid intense debate over competing uses of land in the UK – for food security, energy production, climate action and to help restore nature and natural processes that can benefit people. Mr Eardley argues that it does not have to be a binary choice between beavers or river restoration and agriculture, but land could be managed to provide both, with benefits for landscapes which are suffering more extreme weather throughout the year as the climate changes. 'You might need to sacrifice some small areas for beaver habitat or whatever. 'But then in that wider landscape you're going to have better, lusher grazing for longer, during those summer months, whereas before, everything would have burnt off,' he said. 'Because you've got higher groundwater levels, your soil and your vegetation are healthier.' Stewart Clarke, senior national freshwater consultant at the National Trust said: 'Water is at the forefront of climate change impacts including flooding and drought, and after a very dry first six months of the year and with many UK regions either in or on the cusp of being in drought conditions, looking after the lifeblood of our landscapes is absolutely vital.' He said that giving rivers more space could create 'nature-rich corridors' through towns and countryside, store water during floods and droughts and give rivers space to adapt to changing flows. The riverlands project is one of a number of schemes the trust had undertaken to 'future proof' rivers, he said, adding: 'The new stage 0 wetland, and the beaver wetlands which it resembles, have created important stores of water and carbon to help in the fight against climate change. 'Over the coming years we aim to create and restore hundreds of such wetlands both for these benefits to people and for the rich wildlife they can support.' And while the Holnicote beavers are currently in enclosures – though prone to escaping – following the Government's recent decision to allow licensed beaver releases into the wild in England, the National Trust is applying to be able to have wild beavers on the estate. Then the beavers could link up with the stage 0 river landscape, and ultimately take over its management in their role as ecosystem engineers.
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
A gentle five-mile trail around Killerton Park in Devon
It was the first wet day in weeks as we set out to explore Killerton Park. We'd managed to find a break in the rain, but ragged grey clouds still peppered a blue sky, sunlight piercing through, air heady with petrichor. At the chapel, a grade I listed building built for Sir Thomas Dyke Acland in 1841, a bridleway swung off the road and into the estate. Home to the Acland family for 300 years, Killerton's distinctive peach-painted, wisteria-draped house and formal gardens — a mix of Tudor, Georgian and Victorian influences — are now part of the National Trust. But the wider woods and parkland, which is home to 1,500 veteran and ancient trees, is open access, free to wander on a sprawling network of paths. • Read more wildlife & nature stories We walked through Deer Park and Back Park, verdant vales dotted with oaks, some more than 600 years old. The still air rang with birdsong: blackbirds, thrushes, robins and wrens giving forth with heart-wrenching generosity. From the 15th-century Ellerhayes Bridge, a former carriage drive led up through Park Wood, tracing the course of the River Culm through its wide valley. The longest tributary of the River Exe, the Culm — whose name means 'knots' or 'ties' due to its meandering course — flows through floodplains north of Killerton before joining the Exe. Part of a nature recovery scheme since 2021, new scrapes and ditches provide habitat while gentle longhorn cattle graze the scrub. Nature is returning rapidly and, as we made our way along the leafy fringes of Columbjohn Wood, we spotted herons and egrets down by the water. Otters are also regularly sighted here. From the valley we climbed a path through sycamore, beech and birch; red campion and buttercup colourful against layers of green. Part-way up are the deep foundations of a lost mansion, commissioned in 1775 by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland but never completed. As we paused to imagine the scale of such a house, the temperature started to drop, the air grew heavy, the woods darkened. • We spent our honeymoon on the Salt Path — these are our top 15 walks The rain began as we neared the top, pattering at first, then gaining momentum, splashing in huge, wet drops. It was, in Terry Pratchett's words, 'the kind of rain that is so much wetter than normal rain … the kind of rain that is merely an upright sea with slots in it'. We soon found ourselves in an alpine valley, tall deodar cedars rising from its steep slopes. Inspired by the picturesque movement and foreign travel, the Aclands had intended to install mountain boulders in the valley, but these never made it to Devon. Highland cattle watched through rain-matted fringes as we crossed the Plains, heading for the summit of Dolbury Hill. Known locally as The Clump, this igneous knoll and Iron Age hillfort boasts grand views across the Exe Valley on a clear day — but was now entirely swallowed by cloud. As we made our way down the rain stopped at last and the skies began to clear, warm sunshine flooding the landscape. We walked past the house, through fields bright with buttercups and orchids, to the café where we sat with cups of tea, steaming gently. How hard is it? 5 miles. Easy: paths, tracks and minor roads Start Killerton car park, EX5 3LE (OS ref SS976001) Getting there Trains to Pinhoe, bus 1A/1 towards Tiverton, alight at Killerton turn. Road — follow signs from the M5 via the B3181. Alternative non-NT parking at Ellerhayes Bridge Walk From main car park turn left onto lane, bearing left onto larger road for short distance uphill (NT members can avoid the road by following signs to chapel). At chapel bear left through gate onto bridleway, through parkland to Ellerhayes Bridge. Turn left, following track around edge of Park Wood with River Culm on right. At path junction (961002) take sharp left uphill through Columbjohn Wood. At top bear left signed Deodar Glen, then left signed Park Wood and Ellerhayes Bridge, then right signed The Plains and The Clump. Go through Irishman's Gate and across The Plains then right, uphill to The Clump. Head downhill along edge of garden boundary, through Bluebell Gate and into Front Park Bank, following signs to Stables Café to finish. Lunch Stables Café, Killerton ( Accommodation Killerton Park Cottage (3-night min; 0344 800 2070, More information Visit Devon (
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Here's why the seeded stars are dropping like flies at Wimbledon - and it's NOT because of the surface
As Jack Draper 's cross-court forehand dropped beyond the chalked line on Thursday evening not only did another British hopeful's Wimbledon dreams fade away but his defeat cemented a curious piece of history that's left everyone searching for answers. Draper, the No4 seed, became the 36th seeded singles player across the men's and women's draws to be eliminated before the third round, the most in Grand Slam history, surpassing the previous record of 35 at the 2020 French Open. It's been the story of the Championships. Twenty-three seeds went out in round one alone, including eight top 10 seeds, including Alexander Zverev and French Open champion Coco Gauff, the most in any Slam since the start of the Open in 1968. Only one of the top five women's seeds began the fifth day still in the tournament, Aryna Sabalenka, who went on to beat Emma Raducanu 8-6, 6-4, and soon No6 seed Madison Keys lost in straight sets to the oldest woman left in the draw, the 37-year-old Laura Siegemund. The talk over the first few days was that the Wimbledon courts were to blame. They were too slow. 'This isn't grass anymore, raged Denis Shapovalov, the Canadian 27th seed who was knocked out in the first round, 'the court is slower than a clay one.' American third seed Jessica Pegula, who lost in less than an hour in the first round, said the courts 'felt different'. Iga Swiatek thought the ball 'bounced differently'. That was to be expected. Wimbledon began in the midst of a heatwave with temperatures north of 32 degrees on the opening day making it the hottest in history. Head groundsman Neil Stubley said the heat would make it play slower as the dry grass grips the ball harder. He revealed his team put stuff in the soil that makes water 'wetter' so it can soak up more moisture from it when the mercury starts to rise. It all felt a bit too much like players looking for excuses. Wimbledon's grass is cut to the same 8mm length every morning. 'I think it's the same as previous years,' said No11 seed Alex de Minaur, fiance of Britain's Katie Boulter. 'It is on the slower side but that's something we all know and are used to. It's about finding ways to use it to your advantage.' 'I can assure you Novak's shots did not feel slow,' added Dan Evans after his second-round defeat to Djokovic. What's more likely a cause of so many upsets is the quick turnaround from the clay court season to the grass with just three weeks between the end of the French Open and the start of Wimbledon. Two completely different surfaces, with different skillsets required as clay plays a lot slower, with higher bounces and more spin to the slicker, lower skid of the grass. It's why only six men in history, with Carlos Alcaraz the most recent, have won the 'Channel Slam' – the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back – and why no woman single's player has completed it since Serena Williams ten years ago. 'This slam out of all of them is the most prone to have upsets because of how quick the turnaround is from clay,' said Gauff, who triumphed at Roland Garros but only played one match on grass before her first-round exit here. It wasn't much better in Paris where 33 – including 20 in the women's draw – were knocked out before round three. 'I feel a little bit of pressure because obviously you feel like the opportunity [of an upset] is there,' admitted 13th seed Amanda Anisimova. The real reason, perhaps, is a simple one. The standard of tennis is just improving. There's less of a gap between the good players and the decent ones. 'The level of tennis increased a lot,' said 14th seed Andrey Rublev, who reached the fourth round on Friday. 'The players even 80 or 90 in the world all know how to play tennis. 'When I started, you could see the difference between top 10 and then the rest. Now you see the difference between Alcaraz and Sinner but from number 3 or 4 in the world, it's more or less the level is there.' It was left to former world No1 and Australian Open and US Open champion Naomi Osaka, now unseeded, to sum it up best: 'I think everyone's really good. That's kind of the issue.'
