Greek wildfires produce 700km smoke cloud stretching across southern Europe

Scorching heat and raging wildfires are continuing to spread across several regions of southern Europe, with Greece bearing the brunt of the devastation.

One indication of the scale of the problem was shared by the Copernics EU satellite in an image that captured a 700km-long smoke cloud stretching across parts of the continent.

The 'Image of the Day' showed the area on Tuesday morning after wildfires had started in Greece.

"This morning, at 08:37 UTC, #Sentinel3 captured a massive smoke cloud (~700km long) generated by the ongoing in East Macedonia, engulfing the central Mediterranean Basin," Copernicus EU wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

It comes after Greek firefighters backed by aircraft battled a blaze spreading outside Athens for a second day on Wednesday.

It was one of hundreds ravaging a country where wildfires have already killed 20 people this week.

Several hundred have fled their homes nationwide since fires erupted in the north of the country on Saturday, fanned by heat and high winds in the summer's second major outbreak.

Read more: Which countries in Europe and the Mediterranean have been affected by wildfires?

Climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias said 355 wildfires had taken hold since Friday.

He added that firefighting teams were making "superhuman efforts" to contain them.

The fire brigade warned that more fires could break out, and spokesman Ioannis Artopios said conditions remained "difficult, and in several cases extreme".

Watch: Local describes fire reducing buildings to 'ashes' in Athens suburb

About 20km (12 miles) north of Athens, more than 200 firefighters backed by volunteers – alongside 65 vehicles and 15 aircraft – battled a blaze that began early on Tuesday near Fyli, a village in the foothills of Mount Parnitha and spread towards the town of Menidi.

The capital has been smothered in smoke and ash since the blaze broke out on Tuesday.

By Wednesday, about 150 people were evacuated by bus from three nursing homes in Menidi to hotels or other care facilities.

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Police ordered other residents to leave as a fire-fighting helicopter clattered overhead, dropping water on the flames.

Summer wildfires are common in Greece but this year they have been made worse by unusually hot, dry and windy weather which scientists link to climate change.

In July, tens of thousands of foreign tourists were evacuated from the island of Rhodes, where a fire burned for a week, burning hotels and resorts as well as swathes of land.