The blaze has been raging since Wednesday and fire crews say the conditions are creating new flare-ups, making containment efforts extremely difficult.

Authorities on Crete moved more than a thousand tourists and residents to safety as an out-of-control wildfire engulfed a forested area in the southwest of the island.

Firefighters are struggling to bring a major wildfire on Greece’s southern island of Crete under control, hampered by gale force winds that are whipping up the flames.

LONDON (Reuters) -Wildfires have killed two people in Spain and two others have died in France because of a heatwave that has gripped Europe and forced the closure of a nuclear reactor at a Swiss power plant.