‘Heatwaves don’t roar like storms – they creep in quietly, but can be just as deadly.’

An elderly woman died shortly after being pulled out alive from the debris of a collapsed building in Sindirgi

One person has died, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters.

Martyn Latchman, 38, passed away earlier this week after undergoing the £1,500 procedure at the Cinik clinic in Besikitas, Istanbul.

The man had travelled to Istanbul for a hair transplant, but he died in hospital shortly after the procedure (Picture: Getty/Google)

A British man has died after having a hair transplant in Turkey.

The 38-year-old from the UK had travell…

More than a dozen people dead; tens of thousands of others evacuated;and thousands of hectares of land burning – this is the ‘titanic battle’ the Balkans is facing.

Wildfires are currently raging in Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria amid a 44°C heatwave, ongoing droughts and strong winds.

A map from Nasa shows how flames have spread across the region in the last week despite efforts to contain them.

What has become clear is that climate change is accelerating the disaster in a region already on the brink.

Turkey

Wildfires that have engulfed Turkey for weeks are now threatening Bursa, its fourth-largest city, early on Sunday.

More than 3,500 people have been forced to flee their homes in villages to the northeast as more than 1,900 firefighters battled the flames.

The highway linking the city to the capital, Ankara, was shut as surrounding forests burned.

Four people have been killed so far. The death toll rose last night after two firefighters, who were pulled from a water tanker that rolled while heading to a forest inferno, died in hospital. Another firefighter died from a heart attack while on the line of duty.

Their deaths raised Turkey’s wildfire fatalities to 17 since June, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed on Wednesday.

Orhan Saribal, an opposition parliamentarian for Bursa, described the site as ‘an apocalypse’.

He added on X: ‘While carrying water to the forest fire between Gürsu and Kestel districts, the water tanker that rolled into a ravine claimed the lives of our three worker brothers.

‘As our lungs burned, this tragedy added a heartache to our pain. I wish mercy for our brothers and condolences to their families, loved ones, and our Bursa.’

Footage revealed an ashen landscape where farms and pine forests had earlier stood.

The rise in wildfires comes as Turkey recorded its highest ever temperature of 50.5°C in the southeastern Sirnak province on Friday.

Greece

In neighbouring Greece, 50 fires scorched the suburbs of Athens, forcing the government to evacuate residents over the weekend.

Firefighters were working on five major fronts late Sunday in the area of Peloponnese, west of the capital, as well as on the islands of Evia, Kythera and Crete.

Kythera, a tourist island with 3,600 residents, continued to face ‘worrying’ conditions.

Deputy mayor Giorgos Komninos told the state-run ERT News channel that half of Kythera had been charred.

He said: ‘Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burnt.’

ERT reported that a fire was still burning on the island late Sunday, but in smaller fronts and the situation was improving.

Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement released on Sunday morning: ‘The state mechanism was called to engage in a titanic battle, simultaneously responding to dozens of wildfires across the country.

‘Today, the situation appears improved, but the fight continues with all available resources.’

Bulgaria

Firefighters battled wildfires at nearly 100 locations across the country on Sunday, with emergency services describing the situation as ‘critical’.

Theodora Vasileva, mayor of one of the devastated villages, Kozarevo, in the southeastern province of Yambol, said this is the first time she had witnessed a disaster of such magnitude.

She added: ‘The rapid notification system helped us a lot – people started calling and gathered in minutes. This is the first time I am seeing this hell; the sunflower crops were all in flames.

‘The elderly, whose homes are everything for them, wept. They were so worried, but everything is under control for now, their houses are preserved.’

Emergency volunteer Zvezdelin Vlaykov stressed that in all his years of firefighting, he has never seen anything like it.

He added: ‘It’s a merciless tragedy.’

This comes as two men were charged with terrorism offences after allegedly deliberately setting fires in the cities of Veliko Turnovo and Sliven.

The Ministry of Interior confirmed that the charges have been escalated from simple arson to crimes under Chapter One of the Criminal Code.

Bulgaria is the most affected country by fires for 2024-2025 in the EU, with more that 38,000 square miles affected.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Deadly blazes have killed 14 people., including one firefighter.

At least 14 more have been hospitalised.

Katrina Marshall was left with severe infections after having three surgeries on the same day in Turkey (Picture: Katrina Marshall/Metro)

A woman who ended up fighting for her life after infections following cosmetic surgery in Turkey…

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Sun, sea and sand on a budget.

Nurse Chloe Roiser, 31, from Norfolk, went under the knife in an Antalya hospital but could now lose her entire breast.

Nurse Chloe Roiser, 31, from Norfolk, went under the knife in an Antalya hospital but could now lose her entire breast.

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On Sunday, the UK Foreign Office advised against all travel to Israel. Now, travellers are looking at the map of the wider region with concern over whether it is safe to travel to Turkey.

Rapidly spreading forest fires forced Adnan Menderes Airport, one of Turkey’s busiest hubs, to temporarily close as authorities struggle to contain the flames.

Strong winds are threatening to worsen the situation in Izmir Province, on the country’s Mediterranean west coast.

The airport, which serves the popular tourist destination city of Izmir, was shut for a period yesterday with services just now returning to normal.

According to its website, flights scheduled to leave yesterday evening will finally be getting off the ground today – with one returning to London Stanstead after a delay of more than 20 hours.

Izmir Mayor Dr Cemil Tugay said: ‘Today is a very tough day for us – we are simultaneously battling numerous fires breaking out all across our beautiful Izmir.

‘In collaboration with relevant institutions, our Fire Department, along with heavy machinery, tankers, and all field personnel, is on high alert.

‘Our teams are working with all their strength to combat the fires, which have grown due to the effect of the storm, particularly in Menderes, Seferihisar, and Gaziemir.’

He said the ‘vast majority’ of the fires were ’caused by human hands’, and urged people in the area to be extremely careful.

Images posted by Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on X show firefighters in Izmir working through the night extinguishing flames with hoses in dense trees.

Ibrahim Yumaklı, the forestry minister, wrote: ‘Our heroes continue their relentless struggle against the flames under the toughest conditions, day and night, with all their might.’

Wildfires have also appeared in top tourist spots Antalya and Mersin, though authorities have reportedly contained or extinguished them.

Temperatures in Izmir are expected to reach 36°C later today, and could approach 40°C later this week.

Turkey is among the countries that have been worst-affected by the ongoing heatwave sweeping southern Europe.

Over the weekend, Spain, Portugal, Greece and France all issued extreme heat, wildfire and health warnings.

The Greek island of Chios, which is the fifth largest in the country, was ravaged by blazes that tore through 11,000 acres of bush and pasture land.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

As tensions rise in the Middle East following Israel’s attack on Iran, and the conflict that has followed, travel in the region has been thrown into chaos.

On Sunday, the UK Foreign Office advised against all travel to Israel. Now, travellers are looking at the map of the wider region with concern over whether it is safe to travel to Turkey.

If your idea of a perfect holiday is traditional culture, ancient ruins and decadent cuisine, then listen up.

On Sunday, the UK Foreign Office advised against all travel to Israel. Now, travellers are looking at the map of the wider region with concern over whether it is safe to travel to Turkey.

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