A 44°C heatwave hit Athens earlier in the week, with a wildfire tearing through the city’s northern suburb of Kryoneri. Homes

Mr Yumaklı said Turkey broken an all-time temperature record on Friday of 50.5C in the southeastern Sirnak. Information published by the country’s General Directorate of Meteorology suggested that temperatures would rise by another 10 degrees, starting Saturday. The highest temperatures for July were seen in 132 other locations.

Greece and Turkey continue to battle major wildfires amid a severe heatwave. Temperatures reached 42.4C in central Greece at the weekend, with emergency services battling fires in the Peloponnese area of Athens and on the popular tourist islands of Kytheria and Crete.

Bursa, in Turkey, has been surrounded by wildfires forcing almost 2,000 people to flee their homes, while a firefighter has died battling the blazes - which have been raging since late June

New wildfires have broken out on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast and the government has declared two western provinces to be disaster zones.

A massive forest fire in Turkey’s northwestern province of Bursa has prompted evacuations and the closure of a major highway. The flames were advancing toward residential areas, bianet.org reported. Shocking videos of the fire have surfaced on X.