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Firefighters worked overnight to contain deadly blazes in Greece and Spain that have forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.

A wildfire is still burning in an inaccessible part of the Aegean island of Chios, where coastguard vessels carried people to safety from beaches on Wednesday. Crews are working to restore electricity after flames destroyed power poles, triggering a blackout across the island.

The number of fires and the amount of area burned has soared in Europe this summer as four major heat waves baked vegetation into kindling. This week, strong winds have spread flames quickly through dry brush, forests and farmland.Nearly 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles) have burned this year, according to satellite data and European Union assessments.

The European Union this week dispatched firefighting planes and helicopters to help battle blazes in Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania. The EU has been called to assist with 16 wildfire events so far this year, matching the number of activations for the entire May-October fire season in 2024, EU officials said.

Climate change has made heat waves more frequent and intense in Europe, the world’s fastest warming continent. That’s triggering more extreme weather events such as wildfires and violent storms.

Greek firefighters are also working to control blazes near Patras and Xirochori in western Peloponnese, while outbreaks in Zakynthos and near Filippiada in northern Greece have been largely contained. Fanned by strong winds, most of Greece — including Athens and the surrounding Attica region — faces dangerous wildfire conditions on Thursday.

There has been little measurable rain in Greece for more than a week, and high temperatures along with gale-force winds have left firefighers scrambling to control blazes, Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said Thursday. He added that Greece amassed the largest firefighting response in the nation’s history: 18,000 personnel, including thousands of additional seasonal responders and forestry specialists.

A large swath of the Mediterranean from North Africa to Spain is threatened as the latest heat wave lingers. Fires have torched French vineyards and burnt mountain villages in Albania.

Red heat warnings have been issued for Germany, Croatia, Serbia and Cyprus, where inland areas could reach 45C (113F) on Thursday. Over the coming week, conditions will ease with the transition to cooler weather accompanied by thunderstorms in many places.

In Spain, where temperatures will climb to 42C today, more than a dozen roads have been shut and high-speed train service on the Madrid-Galicia line is suspended due to wildfires.