UK Foreign Office's latest Greece update could be great news for UK travellers

The UK Foreign Office has provided a new update to holidaymakers heading to Greece in the coming days.

Athens and the islands across Greece have been battling forest fires in recent weeks, with the country having been struck by three straight heatwaves. One of the worst-hit Greek islands has been Rhodes, which is a popular summer destination among travellers from the UK.

Latest travel rule from Greece

However, on Monday, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed that the Greek government had "lifted" the "state of emergency" in Rhodes.

"Extreme temperatures are affecting many areas of Greece. There are active wildfires across Greece, including in populated areas on the mainland and a number of islands. The state of emergency in Rhodes, declared by the Greek authorities on 26 July, has now been lifted," wrote FCDO on their website.

FCDO's travel advisory

But the UK Foreign Office also warned its people about how "unpredictable" forest fires can be.

"Wildfires are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The situation can change quickly. If you are due to travel to an area that might be affected by wildfires, contact your travel operator or accommodation provider before you travel to check that it is not currently impacted. Make sure you have appropriate insurance," added FCDO in its travel advisory.

The Foreign Office also mentioned about the Crisis Management United that the Greek government has set up to facilitate the evacuation of foreign visitors from Rhodes due to the ongoing forest fires. Contact them for advice on: +30 210 368 1730, +30 210 368 1259, +30 210 368 1350.

The firefighters, who have been working so hard across Greece, on Friday said that the majority of fires were under control but a fire risk remains due to the weeks-long drought and strong winds, according to Manchester Evening News.

Two weekends ago, around 19,000 people were evacuated from various locations on Rhodes Island. Wildfires in Greece have killed five people over the last two weeks and fires have also scorched hundreds of square miles of land outside Athens and elsewhere.

Earlier, Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek minister of the climate crisis and civil protection, claimed that most of the 667 fires that had exploded across Greece in recent weeks were started "by human hand."

"During this time 667 fires erupted, that is more than 60 fires a day, almost all over the country. Unfortunately, the majority were ignited by human hand, either by criminal negligence or intent.

"The difference with other years were the weather conditions. Climate change, which yielded a historic and unprecedented heatwave, is here. There were very few days where the extreme weather was not combined with strong winds," added Kikilias.

Foreign Office's latest advisory on Turkey travel

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has also provided a travel warning for tourists heading to Turkey this summer. The warning is about a recent spike in salmonella cases. Since the beginning of this year, over 240 travellers returning to the UK from Turkey have been struck by the bacterial disease, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.

It is understood that salmonella has been detected among travellers staying in several different hotels in Turkey, with most people infected after eating a wide variety of different foods in their hotel resort. Those people had their meals booked as part of an all-inclusive holiday package.

There have been several health-related warnings given out to travellers in recent times. One of the latest warnings offered by the FCDO is for people heading to France about a serious disease that has had a 94% hospitalisation rate. France has detected around 61 cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) but no deaths have been reported in the country as yet due to this disease.