Wildfires rage in Greece as heatwave bakes Europe

Greece battled a dozen major wildfires on Wednesday, including one threatening its third-largest city Patras, as a heatwave stoked blazes and forced the evacuation of thousands in southern Europe. Thousands of firefighters backed by the army deployed across Greece, with fire service spokesman saying "the situation remains difficult" for "forces waging a tough battle".

Officials evacuated 12 children from a Patras hospital, Vathrakogiannis said. Eighty elderly people were removed from a retirement home. The roof of a nearby 17th-century monastery ablaze. Other fronts were burning on the popular Ionian tourist islands of Zante and Cephalonia and the Aegean island of Chios, scarred by a huge wildfire in June that ravaged more than 4,000 hectares.