According to a 2024 report by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe is the continent with the fastest-rising temperatures on Earth, having warmed twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s.

More than 5,000 tourists, hotel workers and residents were evacuated from an area along Crete's southern coast. Some people fled into the sea and were rescued by local fishermen and divers.

Firefighters in Turkey remained locked in a battle to contain flames tearing through forested hillsides in the west of the country on Friday, while similar wildfires in neighboring Greece were largely brought under control.