(Bloomberg) -- Greek authorities ordered the evacuation of villages in the Peloponnese region as wildfires destroyed properties, while another blaze was contained at a seaside resort near Athens.

Firefighters across the country are under pressure for a third day, as a combination of strong winds and temperatures as high as 40C (104F) triggered alerts. Athens, which is on the highest red alert, closed the city’s parks as a precaution. More than 45 blazes have broken out in the past few hours alone, according to the fire service.

“Dangerous fires are burning in many areas of the country,” a fire service spokesman said in a televised statement. “In several cases, the wind speed exceeds 95 kilometers per hour, which makes it difficult for aircraft to approach.”

Climate change means this year is on track to be the hottest on record, with the death toll from searing temperatures and extreme weather events climbing from India and Saudi Arabia to the US and Brazil. 

Wildfires have been a threat in Greece since the 1980s, but global warming is turbo-charging the threat they pose. The country recorded its hottest June day earlier this month.

Evacuation orders were given for several villages in the Ahaia area in the western Peloponnese, as fires threatened homes. Earlier in the day, inhabitants of villages in the east of the region were told to evacuate. Planes and a helicopter joined the efforts to extinguish the fires, one of which is close to a lignite mine.

Another blaze in Saronida, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Athens, was brought under control with the help of helicopters dousing the flames. The police have reopened the main road to the capital from the resort of Mavro Lithari, which was briefly subject to an evacuation order.

Fire also erupted near the national highway connecting Athens with Greece’s second-largest city Thessaloniki, while another broke out on the island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea.

The Greek Air Force made 15 fire-fighting missions throughout the country on Thursday. The fire risks should ease slightly over the weekend as the wind drops.

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The heat that’s blanketing southeast Europe was accompanied by power blackouts on Friday in parts of Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania. That hit public transport, caused internet outages and left people stranded in elevators, local media reported.

--With assistance from Eamon Akil Farhat, Andrea Dudik and Jan Bratanic.

(Updates with Ahaia evacuations in sixth paragraph)

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