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. - Greece - Thousands of firefighters backed by the army deployed across Greece,

Firefighters are battling several wildfires in Greece as a scorching heatwave wreaks havoc across southern Europe. In the past 24 hours alone, more than 152 new fires have broken out across Greece - and thousands of people have been evacuated. Around 4,850 firefighters are engaged in a multi-front battle to contain the flames.

The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares or 610 square miles, according to the European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London.