Would you travel any of the Greek islands at the moment?

[Maddogsand]

Would you travel to any of the Greek Islands at the moment, with the current situation in Rhodes & Corfu, and another heatwave coming in from Tuesday?

Eldest (18) has a holiday booked with her friends, flying out August 1st . . . not sure if I'm just being an overly cautious parent in thinking they'd be better rescheduling . . . or if that's the sensible and safe option given the current wildfires and heatwaves?

Also feels like emergency services out there are stretched already . . . and given no let up in the heat more wildfires could break out?

Would welcome thoughts on this one please, ultimately they'll decide themselves, but it's difficult to know what to advise when asked.

Most of the people being evacuated seem to be package holiday bucket and spade types, so probably more unworldly than other types of traveller.

Honestly, this place 🙄

Lol @Quina oh worldly one

We’re in Corfu having arrived on Monday. We took soundings from local people via the owner of the villa before we came and learnt that the islanders still want tourists here and that they are, rightly, very confident and proud of the emergency services.

the UK media has grossly over-sensationalised the stories of heat waves, wildfires and mass evacuations- for Corfu at least.

as for the heat - it was pretty hot on Tues at 38 and today it’s 32.

i have found local Facebook groups really helpful for pragmatic local reactions - perhaps that’s something to check out for peace of mind?

The Corfu forum on Facebook is showing calm photos with no fires and reports of everything being fine.

Went to Corfu in June reached 32 degrees.. very hot then.
Wouldn't go now even though l have very high insurance. If you end up in hospital
In the Greek Islands unless you have good insurance it's awful.. if you can't go to a private one.. you have to provide your own bedding and food.
I wouldn't go until its safe to do so.

Booked in for Crete in a weeks time- I’m going. I
dony fancy losing thousands of pounds and my only holiday, based on Rhodes and Corfu.

@Quina that’s a rather condescending view of the bucket and spade “types”. Some of the islands are really rather small, not of the Aberdeen to Devon distance, and the fires or congestion can impact on the rest of the island. My DC changed their holiday to elsewhere on the Mediterranean. I didn’t want to worry about them. My first responsibility is towards my family and not the local economy.

I would, however, agree about the media whipping up fear. I suppose it was a quiet few days on the small boats crossings or other things to scare us about.

Having said all that, we are still booked to go in a couple of weeks and it’ll hopefully be ok by then

In in Kos now, been here since Sunday. It's hot yes but it's tolerable providing you are sensible. We've always avoided the hottest part of the day and gone exploring either first thing in the morning or after 2.30-3pm. We are managing perfectly fine with frequent dips in the pool or sea to Cool off, lots of water and suncream and a hat. I am also a HUGE fan of the electric neck fan/air blower that my DH got me as a gag gift from Amazon. Life saver!

We’re in Greece at end of August

We’ll go but it’s not one of areas in high alert atm anyway

I’d likely consider things more when booking in the future

@AccidentallySuckedTheStrippersDick don't suppose you have a link?! I have a traveller who needs one such fan

We are on the W coast of Crete ATM. No fires at all here and since yesterday has been much cooler. It is quite windy today and I actually felt a bit cold this morning and didn't venture into the pool for my early morning swim. Yesterday there were quite a few clouds. Weather for the next week is expected to be a max of 32.

Agree with this 100%. Join a Corfu group on FB and ask the locals.

We're also in Corfu, 8 miles from the recent wildfires.

Our holiday has been undisturbed and our local village was business as usual.

The emergency services and locals are diligently patrolling by land and air to keep on top of any more flare ups that might happen.

It feels like the a safe time to come right now considering the greatly increased number of firefighters and vehicles in the area.

Greece needs tourism.

From a different perspective: She is 18, travelling with a group of similarly aged friends... this in itself presents a number of risks, which under normal circumstances, are fairly manageable... adding the additional factors of intense heat and risk of fire.. is this an acceptable risk level.

DS is 18 (young for his year, has already done one year at uni). Last year load of students from his school and others around, went to Greece on holiday in June, many of them came home sick - Ios flu, they call it.. two were hospitalised on their return, one with suspected glandular fever, one with side effects likely to be from a virus that could not be identified (possibly covid.. but we will never know). One of the teachers said it's the same every year - I was shocked as it seemed really extreme. This year, 10 of them went to Malaga, no hospitalisations this year but they have all come back under the weather with coughs. They think it's being in close contact with hundreds of others in nightclubs, not sleeping enough and drinking more than they are used to.

I am not sure I would want to add the higher temperatures of August and the increased risk of being caught up in travel complications to the mix. Has she travelled much on her own before, how confident is she in difficult situations which might require her to change her flights for example.. does she have enough funds available if she needs to find emergency accommodation, book at 200 euro taxi from one place to another.. take a look at the Stuck in Rhodes thread on the AMA part of this board.

While it is not a given that she will be faced with something similar, there is a higher risk than might have been the case a few weeks ago. Temperatures have not decreased, the ground has not become wetter.

This. Follow the advice of people who are actually there, not some BBC journalist sat at his desk in London.

@ChocolateyCrunch

My DH just searched neck fan on Amazon. The one he got me is rechargeable and has 3 speeds. And it sits very easily on your neck/shoulders. Was amazing for my peri hot flushes and it's one of the best things he ever got me! Was around £14

In keeping with that idea FWIW the weatherperson at Corfu airport reckoned it was 29 (twenty nine) Celsius at about midday local time today.

Yes definitely

@ChateauMargaux those are good points. I know one of my DCs would totally panic and we’d have a flurry of messages, whereas another one would be so laid-back she’d be the last to leave.

Our son lives in Cyprus, he has said its hot, but no hotter than others years. Forest fires are a thing too. In Cyprus the UK have permanent RAF helicopters based there to assist with forest fires, search and rescue etc.

From my friend who lives in Rhodes

UPDATE - Friday 28 July ...

The recent wildfires on Rhodes are out after a week of turmoil, thanks to the formidable force of our local and international heroes. Not just firefighters but everyday people young and old, men and women. Firefighters are still on the ground now to ensure any embers do not flare up again.

There has been extensive damage to our forests, wildlife and noticeable damage to property and peoples lives which will take a long time to recover.

All the damage was to the south of the island. The north along with 90% of the island was not touched by fire. Over 95% of the tourists here were not affected by the fire and enjoyed a normal holiday.

The worst of the heatwave seems to have passed. The temperature today is much nearer to normal (nice) for this time of year 😁

So, please ignore any remaining scaremongering in the media and visit Rhodes for an amazing time. This will help us to survive this season and begin rebuilding. Without tourism we would face a bleak winter. Thank you for your support.

Got it and bought one that arrives tomorrow. Thanks!

In keeping with that idea FWIW the weatherperson at Corfu airport reckoned it was 29 (twenty nine) Celsius at about midday local time today.

Ooh lovely! My weather app reckons it'll be mid 20s by the time I get there in 10 days.

In Corfu at the moment and to be honest the locals were telling me it's actually cooler this year so far compared to usual. Today was 28 with a lovely cool breeze. They are blaming environmentalists for stirring things up to suit the green agenda.

@Amboseli sounds like you are staying quite near where we holidayed a couple of weeks ago. It was hot! The terrain around the beach areas / hotels is scrub rather than 'wooded' which I understand Rhodes is, hence how fires can take hold.

We went inland a bit (not right into the mountains) on one day and there were orange groves and olive groves but those are smaller trees and I wouldn't say we saw any dense woodland at all - certainly not near the coast. Hope this helps. Enjoy your holiday!