Gale force wind gusts complicated efforts on Friday to contain wildfires on Crete that have razed forests and olive groves and forced thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate.

Sadly, these events can no longer be considered extreme weather trends but are more Europe’s ‘new normal’ as the region faces heatwaves due to climate change. In the same week as Türkiye’s Izmir blaze , a wildfire broke out on the popular island of Crete on Wednesday, leading to mass evacuations.