Wildfires fanned by heatwave rage across Europe, burning houses and factories

PATRAS, Greece,/MADRID (Reuters) -Wildfires fanned by a heatwave and strong winds continued to rage across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning houses, farms and factories and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.

Flames and dark smoke billowed over a cement factory that was set alight by a wildfire that swept through olive groves and forests and disrupted rail traffic on the outskirts of the Greek city of Patras, in the northern Peloponnese west of Athens.

"What does it look like? It looks like doomsday. May God help us and help the people here,” said Giorgos Karvanis, a volunteer who had come from Athens to Patras to help.

Authorities ordered residents of a town of about 7,700 people near Patras to evacuate on Tuesday and issued new alerts on Wednesday, advising residents of two nearby villages to leave their homes.

On the Greek islands of Chios, in the east, and Cephalonia, in the west, both popular with tourists, authorities told people to move to safety as fires spread.

In Spain, a volunteer firefighter died from severe burns and several people were hospitalised as state weather agency AEMET warned that almost all of the country was at extreme or very high risk of fire. The 35-year-old man had been attempting to create firebreaks near the town of Nogarejas, in the central Castile and Leon region, when he was trapped in the blaze, regional officials said.

Firefighters hosed down blazing houses and warehouses in villages in Castile and Leon, where more than 5,000 people were evacuated.

The leader of the Galicia region in the northwest, Alfonso Rueda, called the situation there "complicated" and said the weather was not helping. Six active fires were affecting a combined 10,000 hectares (38 square miles) in Galicia's Ourense province.

SUSPECTED ARSON

Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen told SER radio station that many fires across the country were suspected to be intentionally caused by arsonists due to their "virulence", but added it was too early to say how many.

In Albania, Defence Minister Pirro Vengu said it was a "critical week", with several major wildfires burning across the country.

In the southern city of Delvina, evacuees returned to their homes but authorities remained vigilant.

Attempts to douse the fires have been hampered by a heatwave across large parts of the continent.

Spain was in its 10th day of a heatwave that peaked on Tuesday with temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), and which AEMET expected to last until Monday, making it one of the longest on record.

Pope Leo moved his weekly audience from St. Peter's Square to an indoor venue in the Vatican, "to stay a little bit out of the sun and the extreme heat" as Italy's health ministry issued extreme heat warnings for 16 cities on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to peak at 39C (102F) in Florence.

(Reporting by Louiza Vradi, David Latona and Gavin Jones; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Alex Richardson)