Greece, Portugal And Spain Battling Devastating Wildfires With Urgent Travel Warnings From The Foreign Office For Uk Tourists

Published on August 16, 2025

The Foreign Office has issued updated recreation warnings for UK visitors heading to Greece, Portugal, and Spain owed to escalating wildfire risks caused by aggravated heatwaves. With fires raging crossed these celebrated destinations, travelers are urged to enactment vigilant and travel section information guidelines. The utmost upwind conditions, which person led to precocious temperatures exceeding 40°C, are expected to continue, heightening nan threat of wildfires. The Foreign Office advises UK holidaymakers to stay alert of their surroundings and return each basal precautions to guarantee their information while walking successful these fire-prone areas.

As wildfires proceed to devastate Southern Europe, nan UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has updated its recreation warnings for holidaymakers readying trips to Spain, Portugal, and Greece. The soaring temperatures and uncontrollable fires sweeping crossed these celebrated destinations person prompted officials to impulse travelers to workout utmost caution. With summertime bringing an elevated consequence of wildfires, visitors are powerfully advised to stay vigilant and adhere to section information guidelines to debar immoderate imaginable danger.

Southern Europe is facing a relentless heatwave, which has sparked galore fires passim Spain, Portugal, and Greece. In Spain alone, 14 awesome wildfires are presently active, pinch blazes affecting ample swaths of land, particularly successful nan bluish and occidental regions. The nationalist upwind agency AEMET has issued warnings of terrible occurrence risks, forecasting continued precocious temperatures that transcend 40°C. So acold this year, nan fires successful Spain person already consumed 158,000 hectares—an area astir balanced to London’s metropolitan size.

Portugal is besides grappling pinch nan crisis, pinch astir 4,000 firefighters moving astir nan timepiece to tackle wildfires, immoderate of which person been raging since mid-August. As temperatures are expected to stay precocious passim nan weekend, nan Portuguese authorities has extended its authorities of alert. Additionally, nan state has requested EU firefighting assistance to negociate nan standard of nan emergency. The European Union’s civilian protection unit has been activated aggregate times this twelvemonth to combat nan increasing occurrence threat crossed Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Albania, highlighting nan wide quality of this crisis.

In Greece, wildfires person been peculiarly intense, pinch a occurrence connected nan land of Chios burning uncontrollably for respective days. The state is connected precocious alert, pinch firefighting teams deploying planes and helicopters to negociate nan situation. Following wildfires that impacted occidental Greece earlier this week, nan occurrence work has issued caller warnings astir heightened risks successful Athens and different confederate regions.

As these utmost upwind conditions persist, nan FCDO has revised its recreation proposal for those heading to Spain, Portugal, and Greece this summer.

Travel Warning for Spain

The FCDO cautions that wildfires are a important consequence successful Spain, peculiarly during nan summertime months (April to October). Travelers should enactment alert erstwhile adjacent woodland areas and regularly consult updates from nan Spanish Meteorological Office (AEMET). To forestall accidental fires, visitors should beryllium mindful of actions specified arsenic decently extinguishing cigaret butts, refraining from lighting barbecues, and avoiding leaving solid bottles behind. Spain imposes strict penalties, including criminal charges, for starting wildfires, moreover unintentionally. In lawsuit of a fire, instantly interaction emergency services astatine 112.

Travel Warning for Portugal

In Portugal, nan consequence of wildfires is highest from April to October, driven by nan aggravated power and barren conditions prevalent during these months. Travelers should enactment informed by checking nan section occurrence consequence scale and beryllium prepared for imaginable evacuations aliases roadworthy closures. Portugal enforces strict laws against starting fires, and violators could look terrible penalties. The Portuguese Met Office provides nan latest accusation connected progressive wildfires and forecasts for some mainland Portugal and Madeira.

Travel Warning for Greece

Similar to Spain and Portugal, Greece faces a precocious consequence of wildfires during nan summer. Travelers are advised to registry their mobile phones to person emergency alerts and debar actions that could spark a fire, specified arsenic leaving solid discarded aliases improperly extinguishing cigarettes. Wildfires are considered a superior discourtesy successful Greece, and travelers recovered responsible, moreover unintentionally, could look ineligible consequences. In lawsuit of fire, telephone 112 for contiguous assistance. Visitors should besides enactment up-to-date pinch charismatic authorities alerts and pass pinch their hose aliases recreation supplier for guidance connected return recreation to nan UK.