Portugal wildfire in August 2023 leads to evacuation of 1400 people - new wildfire on Cyprus

Around 1400 people were evacuated on Tuesday around Odemira, Portugal on Tuesday. The wildfire is fought by 850 firefighters and six water-bombing planes.

This wildfire in Portugal started on Saturday in the municipality of Odemira, in the Alentejo region.  but has since spread south towards the Algarve, which one of Portugal's most popular tourist destinations, reports Reuters. 

High temperatures and strong winds have made fightingting efforts difficult. The fire has destroyed around 6,700 hectares of land so far. 

José Ribeiro, commander of the emergency and civil protection authority, said weather conditions were expected to remain a challenge.

New wildfire on Cyprus

Firefighting crews from Greece (who has also been dealing with difficult fires this summer)  Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Britain, joined local crews on Monday to help with a forest fire raging north of the city of Limassol.

The blaze broke out on Sunday and led to precautionary evacuation of three communities the same evening. 

By morning the fires had largely been contained, but strong winds caused flare-ups.

"Today we managed to contain the fire. There are some fronts which are a cause for concern so air assets will be dispatched tomorrow for precautionary reasons. ... We hope tomorrow will be better," Justice Minister Anna Koukkides-Procopiou told reporters.