Since the beginning of July, several European countries - Greece, Italy, Spain, Finland, Turkey - have been facing major fires that are sometimes deadly.

A phenomenon intensified by the hot weather, and which hit areas that had hitherto been preserved.

Thousands of hectares devoured by flames, hundreds of people fleeing their homes and entire forests going up in smoke ... Europe has been in the throes of violent fires since the beginning of July.

The phenomenon has intensified in recent days and is also affecting countries that had been preserved until then.

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In southern Italy, firefighters had to carry out more than 800 interventions in a single day.

Last week, it was in Sardinia that 20,000 hectares went up in smoke.

The governor of the island speaks of an "unprecedented catastrophe".

"We saw a big cloud of smoke and all of a sudden the water and electricity were cut off"

Fires that also hit Spain or even Greece: near the city of Patras, about twenty houses burned down. Flames sometimes close to very touristy seaside resorts, such as in Rhodes. "We saw a big cloud of smoke. Suddenly, the water and electricity were cut off throughout the hotel," says Maud, on vacation on the Greek island with her family. "It's very, very hot. Having traveled a lot, this is the first time that we have had such unbearable heat."

But it is in Turkey that the situation is most dramatic, with already eight dead in the south of the country and more than 1000 people evacuated by boat.

Residents are calling for help on social media.

A woman films the flames a few meters from her house.

In another video, locals are seen desperately attempting to fight the blaze with a simple garden hose, as the fire devours an olive tree field.

Turkey is burning! # PrayForTurkey # helpturkeypic.twitter.com / XouwYrgCqx

- Aysel Huseynzade (@huzaadeh) August 2, 2021

Impressive scenes all over Europe and even as far as Finland.

300 hectares burned 500 km north of Helsinki.

It is the biggest forest fire in 50 years, in this country on the borders of the Arctic Circle.