Record high temperatures have killed two people and sent dozens more to hospital on Wednesday as temperatures hit 46 degrees Celsius, causing fires to burn across Greece, according to dpa. The heatwave, the second to strike the country this summer, caused power shortages and fuelled dozens of forest fires in central and southern Greece. An 81-year-old women was reported dead in western Greece on Wednesday, while a 75-year-old man died from heatstroke on the Ionian island of Corfu a day earlier. Hospitals across the country were on full alert as dozens were rushed to emergency rooms for heat-related problems. Pollution levels in Athens also hit dangerous levels due to the heat, and two damaged power plants in northern Greece were operating once again early Wednesday after failing due to high demand. Problems with the power grid in several Balkan countries caused a widespread electricity blackout in northern Greece's Meliti and Amintaio on Tuesday. Greece's electricity energy network has been hooked up to its neighbours in recent year as the countries often trade power. During the very warm summer months Greece imports electricity, usually from Bulgaria, in a bid to help meet the soaring demand. Officials at the country's public power corporation appealed to consumers to limit the continuous use of air conditioners during peak hours. Dry weather conditions and record-high temperatures have also caused hundreds of forest fires since the beginning of July and forest rangers have been placed on 24-hour fire patrols over the next week. More than 1,000 additional firefighters were being sent to northern Greece to contain dozens of blazes. Officials on the Ionian island of Kefallonia issued a state of emergency as a huge forest fire destroyed dozens of homes and came close to engulfing eight villages. Meanwhile, a forest fire in the Peloponnese region was closing in on several villages, trapping hundreds of residents. Five helicopters were immediately dispatched to try to evacuate the residents. Firefighters, with the assistance of aeroplanes and helicopters were also battling fires in the western regions of Aegio and Ioannina as well as on the island of Hydra and ancient Epidavros in central Greece. Meteorologists said cooler weather should be filtering into Greece by Thursday.
