Wildfires force thousands to flee as blazes spread across Europe

At least a dozen people have reportedly been hospitalised in Croatia after blazes tore into the tourist town of Omis.Published On 14 Aug 202614 Aug 2026Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate across Germany, France, Croatia and Greece as wildfires continue to rage across parts of western and southeastern Europe.The blazes follow successive heatwaves this summer that have scorched approximately 500,000 hectares of land across the European Union.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3June and July hottest on record in Western Europe, monitor sayslist 2 of 3Wildfires bear down on homes in Canada’s Okanagan regionlist 3 of 3Wildfires in Albania and Spain cause hundreds to evacuateend of listIn Croatia, strong winds drove a wildfire into the tourist town of Omis on Friday, enveloping settlements and forest areas. Local media reported that 14 people were hospitalised in the nearby city of Split, with seven in life-threatening condition.“We have had an extremely difficult night, we have a complicated situation in the area from Lokva Rogoznica to Omis,” Chief Fire Commander Slavko Tucakovic told local news outlets.Evacuations in Germany and FranceIn western Germany, authori...