By Ahmet Gencturk
ATHENS (AA) - Greece is on alert as extreme weather has prompted wildfires and is expected to bring storms, the civil protection minister said Wednesday.
"The Risk Assessment Committee, in an emergency meeting this morning, informed us of dangerous weather phenomena with severe storms and intense electrical activity tomorrow in many areas of the country,” said Vasilis Kikilias, according to the state-run AMNA news agency.
The national meteorological service said unstable aerial masses coming to Greece from the northwest Balkans will bring heavy rain and thunderstorms, especially to the central and northern areas of the country
The extreme weather, accompanied by lightning and hailstorms, will reach the northern regions of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace later Wednesday and will be especially severe in Halkidiki early Thursday before spreading to the south and central regions of Thessaly, the Sporades islands and central Greece.
The Civil Protection Ministry noted that there is a very high risk of fire in the regions of Chania in Crete, Laconia in Peloponnese and Kythira Island on Wednesday.
A forest fire, meanwhile, broke out Wednesday in the Athens suburban district of Glyka Nera.
The fire department said the blaze started in the afternoon and had been moving from houses toward the nearby forest.