• Publish Your article
  • Editorial Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
No Result
View All Result
UK Herald
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Sports
    England rugby stadium Twickenham given new name after more than 100 years in shock new deal

    England rugby stadium Twickenham given new name after more than 100 years in shock new deal

    Peter Morgan dead at 65: Former Wales and Lions rugby star who became a politician passes away as club pays tribute

    Peter Morgan dead at 65: Former Wales and Lions rugby star who became a politician passes away as club pays tribute

    Horse racing tips: Unexposed Group 1 contender can stun the big guns at 14-1

    Horse racing tips: Unexposed Group 1 contender can stun the big guns at 14-1

    Woman ‘raped seven times by two French rugby stars who left her riddled with bite marks & with horror injuries’

    Woman ‘raped seven times by two French rugby stars who left her riddled with bite marks & with horror injuries’

    Horse racing tips: Gary Moore’s charge can gain revenge after falling last time out

    Horse racing tips: Gary Moore’s charge can gain revenge after falling last time out

    Ian Buckett dead at 56: Former Wales rugby star who was ‘admired and feared equally’ dies as tributes pour in

    Ian Buckett dead at 56: Former Wales rugby star who was ‘admired and feared equally’ dies as tributes pour in

    Horse racing tips: Bash the bookies with these longshots including 9-1 fancy

    Horse racing tips: Bash the bookies with these longshots including 9-1 fancy

    Shayne Philpott dead at 58 – New Zealand All Blacks rugby legend dies after suffering ‘medical event’

    Shayne Philpott dead at 58 – New Zealand All Blacks rugby legend dies after suffering ‘medical event’

    Horse racing tips: This 7-1 chance appears to have been laid out for race he won last year

    Horse racing tips: This 7-1 chance appears to have been laid out for race he won last year

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • food
    • Health
    • Travel
    Ryanair calls for ‘urgent’ reform as French air strikes stretch to four days 

    Ryanair calls for ‘urgent’ reform as French air strikes stretch to four days 

    Is it safe to travel to Crete? Latest tourist advice amid wildfire evacuations

    Is it safe to travel to Crete? Latest tourist advice amid wildfire evacuations

    Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

    Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

    I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

    I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

    All the food and drink banned on EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI flights

    All the food and drink banned on EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI flights

    ‘Just gorgeous’: Your favourite European islands that aren’t in Greece

    ‘Just gorgeous’: Your favourite European islands that aren’t in Greece

    ‘Charming’ city in Spain is a lesser-known gem with £40 flights and ‘hardly any tourists’

    ‘Charming’ city in Spain is a lesser-known gem with £40 flights and ‘hardly any tourists’

    Anti-tourism protesters have an important message — and it’s not for tourists

    Anti-tourism protesters have an important message — and it’s not for tourists

    ‘Ambitious’ new sleeper train will connect 100 European cities — with private rooms from £67

    ‘Ambitious’ new sleeper train will connect 100 European cities — with private rooms from £67

    Unassuming UK village is an absolute gem for foodies with ‘exceptional’ restaurants

    Unassuming UK village is an absolute gem for foodies with ‘exceptional’ restaurants

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
  • Health
  • Opinion
  • Science
  • Tech
  • Crypto
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Sports
  • More
    • Press Release
UK Herald
No Result
View All Result

Is it safe to travel to Crete? Latest tourist advice amid wildfire evacuations

by Justin Marsh
July 3, 2025
0
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterReddit


Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire near Ierapetra, on Crete
Wildfires are ripping through hillsides on the Greek holiday island of Crete (Picture: Reuters)

‘Biblical’ wildfires have forced the evacuation of more than 1,500 people on the Greek holiday island of Crete.

Hotels and homes have been emptied in the Ierapetra area, one hour’s drive from the Brit-beloved resort of Malia. Firefighters are battling blazes stoked by strong winds and flames are ripping through forested hillsides.

Locals have described the fire, which has also reached the areas of Ferma, Agia Fotia and Koutsounari, as a ‘complete disaster’.

Crete is one of Greece’s most popular tourist destinations, with roughly five million – 871,000 of them Brits – visiting last year.

Each summer, the risk of wildfires and heatwave-related incidents is high across the island as well as in other parts of southern Greece. But if you’ve got a trip coming up, is it time to start rethinking plans?

What’s the latest Foreign Office advice?

Sign up to The Getaway newsletter

Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here.

As of 8.30am on Thursday, July 3, the UK Foreign Office has not updated its guidance on travelling to Crete or indeed any other part of Greece.

If it does, we’ll update this article as soon as possible.

Existing advice on the FCDO website warns that Greece is prone to extreme natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, wildfires, extreme heat and flash floods.

As it does every year, the Foreign Office cautions that there is a high risk of wildfires in Greece from April to October.

Crete wildfire map - metro graphics
Fires are roaring across the Ierapetra area of Crete, about an hour’s drive from the popular resort of Malia and 90 minutes from Heraklion (Picture: Metro)

Travellers are advised to register for the Greek government’s national emergency alerts (you can do this here).

The Red Cross tells people to evacuate quickly, and to read up on the community’s response plan before travelling.

To avoid starting wildfires, you should always pick up litter (especially glass, which is known to spark fires), avoid barbecues and make sure that cigarettes are properly extinguished.

How common are wildfires in Greece?

In Europe, Greek islands such as Rhodes, Corfu and Crete are some of the areas hardest hit by wildfires.

In July 2018, at the height of tourist season, the worst wildfire to hit Greece in over a decade tore through a small resort town near Athens, killing 104 people and injuring more than 200.

Fires ripped through Mati, burning some 135,000 hectares of forest and destroying dozens of homes and businesses.

{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T1M40S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/07\/03\/06\/99957501-0-image-a-10_1751521939849.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-07-03T06:49:49+0100″,”description”:”At least 155 firefighters, assisted by 38 engines and water trucks, battled the flames in Crete’s municipality of Lerapetra at the southeastern coast of the country’s largest island.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/07\/03\/4549233773769961620\/480x270_MP4_4549233773769961620.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480}

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video

Up Next

Previous Page
Next Page





















window.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {
if (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {
return;
}
var player = data.detail.carousel.el_;
var container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);
var placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);
if (placeholder) {
container.removeChild(placeholder);
container.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);
}
});

In Crete, Global Forest Watch says the peak fire season typically begins in early July, and lasts 12 weeks.

Between July 1, 2024, and December 23, 2024, 14 major fire alerts were reported. The most fires recorded in a year was 47 in 2012.

Last week, a wildfire raged relentlessly across the eastern Aegean island of Chios, the ancestral home of some of Greece’s wealthiest shipping families and the fifth largest in the country.

A Georgian housekeeper was charged with unintentional arson after allegedly throwing a lit cigarette on the ground.

What to do if your holiday is affected

If you find yourself at the site of a wildfire while on holiday, follow instructions from local authorities, and make sure to keep any essentials – passport, keys, medication, phone – with you at all times.

If you’ve booked with a tour operator or airline, they should be your first port of call. They can help you to find alternative accommodation or flights, if necessary.

If you’re preparing to travel, it may be possible to cancel your trip for a refund, but only under specific circumstances.

Fire burns in the Ahlia area near the port town of Ierapetra on the south coast of Crete island, Greece
Fire burns in the Ahlia area near the port town of Ierapetra on the south coast of Crete island, Greece (Picture: AP)

This includes if there is a wildfire within a certain distance of you accommodation, or if there’s an official travel advisory from the Foreign Office warning against travel. Which, as it stands, there is not.

As Grant Winter, compliance officer at specialist travel insurance provider Goodtogo, tells Metro: ‘No airline is obligated to refund you for a flight you choose not to take.’

So, if you choose not to travel, you’re likely to lose some – or even all – of your money.

How dangerous are wildfires?

Very. Wildfires can hurt you in many ways, the most obvious being caught by the flames.

With fast winds and dry plants, both in abundance on the geographically exposed Greek islands, a fire can spread faster than you can run from it.

Burns are the biggest killer, but dehydration and heatstroke also pose a risk. Toxic particles of burned matter carried on the wind can enter the bloodstream. This microscopic matter has been linked to myriad health conditions including asthma, cancer and respiratory disease.

Survivors face the trauma of losing homes and businesses, and studies have shown that people who live through wildfires show increased rates of depression.



Source link

Related Posts

Ryanair calls for ‘urgent’ reform as French air strikes stretch to four days 

Ryanair calls for ‘urgent’ reform as French air strikes stretch to four days 

by Justin Marsh
July 6, 2025
0

Ryanair says the situation is ‘not acceptable’ (Picture: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Ryanair has renewed its call for urgent reform to Europe’s air traffic control (ATC) systems as strikes by French...

Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

by Justin Marsh
June 30, 2025
0

Flames rise from a forest after a wildfire broke out in Izmir, Turkey on June 29, 2025 (Picture: Anadolu) Blazing wildfires have sparked travel chaos in Turkey, days after flights were cancelled...

I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

by Justin Marsh
June 27, 2025
0

A growing number of Brits are opting for a staycation this year (Picture: Getty Images) Growing up in Yorkshire, I was never far from wide open space. My childhood was filled with...

All the food and drink banned on EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI flights

All the food and drink banned on EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI flights

by Justin Marsh
June 24, 2025
0

Check your snacks before boarding… (Picture: Getty Images) It’s no secret that plane food isn’t always the best, with cabin crew serving up meals full of salt to try and appeal to...

‘Just gorgeous’: Your favourite European islands that aren’t in Greece

‘Just gorgeous’: Your favourite European islands that aren’t in Greece

by Justin Marsh
June 21, 2025
0

Ready to find your new favourite island? (Picture: Getty Images) When you think of islands in Europe, the first country that springs to mind is Greece. And for good reason. From azure...

‘Charming’ city in Spain is a lesser-known gem with £40 flights and ‘hardly any tourists’

‘Charming’ city in Spain is a lesser-known gem with £40 flights and ‘hardly any tourists’

by Justin Marsh
June 18, 2025
0

Castellon de la Plana has hardly any tourists and everything to offer (Picture: Getty Images) We’re all familiar with the beaches of Barcelona, the vibrant culture of Madrid — and the crowds...

Next Post
Could the 10 Year Health Plan do more to support our NHS?

Could the 10 Year Health Plan do more to support our NHS?

Popular News

One year of Keir: why Starmer now faces a reckoning

One year of Keir: why Starmer now faces a reckoning

July 6, 2025
Ryanair calls for ‘urgent’ reform as French air strikes stretch to four days 

Ryanair calls for ‘urgent’ reform as French air strikes stretch to four days 

July 6, 2025

News diary 7-13 July: 7/7 bombings 20th anniversary, Netanyahu at White House, Macron state visit to UK

July 6, 2025
Could the 10 Year Health Plan do more to support our NHS?

Could the 10 Year Health Plan do more to support our NHS?

July 4, 2025
Is it safe to travel to Crete? Latest tourist advice amid wildfire evacuations

Is it safe to travel to Crete? Latest tourist advice amid wildfire evacuations

July 3, 2025
PMQs verdict: Labour’s woes are bigger than Rachel Reeves

PMQs verdict: Labour’s woes are bigger than Rachel Reeves

July 2, 2025
AXIOM-4: What will be the role of Shubhanshu Shukla in the mission? What did India send in space? What will India benefit?

AXIOM-4: What will be the role of Shubhanshu Shukla in the mission? What did India send in space? What will India benefit?

July 1, 2025
UK Herald

All Rights Reserved © UK HERALD - The Voice of UK

Important Links

  • Publish Your article
  • Editorial Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise

...

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Science
  • National
  • Entertainment
  • Gaming
  • Sports
  • Fashion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Food

All Rights Reserved © UK HERALD - The Voice of UK