Southern Europe battles wildfires as north cleans up after floods

ATHENS: Wildfires burned in regions across southern Europe on Monday, fuelled by hot weather and strong winds, as some northern countries cleaned up after a weekend of torrential rain and flooding.

In Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said firefighters had battled around 50 fires during the past 24 hours and it was likely there would be more with meteorologists warning that a further heatwave was in prospect. "I want to emphasize that August remains a difficult month," he said. "That is why it is important for all of us, all state services, to be on absolute alert until the firefighting period is formally over."