Fire scorches Turkish province of Antalya by Steph Ball
Fire-fighters struggled Friday night to gain control of a large forest fire which has been threatening the tourist province of Antalya.
The fire, reported to be the worst the region has ever faced, has burnt through 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) of woodland since starting on Thursday. Residential and historical sites have come under threat, while several villages were forced to evacuate. Fire-fighters faced difficulties with strong winds spurning the blaze.
Turkey is not alone in its anguish; both Greece and Cyprus have suffered severe forest fires this summer. Just over a week ago Turkish, Greek, Italian and French fire-fighters were called upon to help fight a large fire raging on the holiday island of Rhodes.
High pressure has dominated the weather across the eastern Mediterranean this summer, bringing little rain and high temperatures. Cyprus and Greece both experienced heatwaves in July with the temperature topping 40C (104F) and land has been left tinder dry. With hot, dry conditions continuing across western Turkey over the next few days this will do nothing to help the fire situation.
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