Thousands battle Greece fires

GREECE battled a dozen major wildfires this week, including one threatening its third-largest city Patras, as a heatwave stoked blazes and forced the evacuation of thousands in southern Europe.

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Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the Balkans and Britain have this week wilted in high temperatures that fuel wildfires and which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying.

Thousands of firefighters backed by the army deployed across Greece, with fire service spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis saying "the situation remains difficult" for "forces waging a tough battle".

"It's a cocktail of high temperatures, strong winds... and minimal humidity," the head of civil protection for Western Greece, Nikos Gyftakis, told public broadcaster ERT.

Journalists saw residents and firefighters backed by helicopters frantically attempt to douse flames in scrubland and forests outside Patras, with thick smoke reducing visibility.

Officials evacuated 12 children from a Patras hospital, Vathrakogiannis said. Eighty elderly people were removed from a retirement home, and local media footage showed the roof of a nearby 17th-century monastery ablaze.