Greek wildfire rages near Athens; towns, hospitals evacuated

A fast-moving wildfire fuelled by gale-force winds raged unabated closer to Athens on Monday, burning trees, houses and cars and forcing evacuations of hospitals and at least 11 towns and villages, Greek authorities said.

Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Greece since May. While summer fires are common in Greece, extraordinarily hot and dry weather linked to climate change have made the blazes more frequent and intense, according to scientists.

More than 560 firefighters backed by volunteers, 17 waterbombing planes and 15 helicopters battled the latest wildfire that broke out at 3 p.m. (midday GMT) on Sunday near Varnavas 35 km (20 miles) north of the capital.

By Monday morning the fire had spread southward and was burning on several fronts including the village of Grammatiko, the ancient town of Marathon, the seaside municipality of Nea Makri, and...