Vacationers fill jars from pools as they try to put out forest fires in Rhodes.

German tourists fill pitchers with water from their resort pool as fires rage nearby Photo: Petros Yannakouris

Vacationers fill pitchers from hotel pools in trying to put out forest fires in Rhodes.

The footage shows tourists near the seaside resort of Lindos with buckets full of water fighting to put out fires that have forced tens of thousands of people to flee the Aegean island.

Others were seen collecting water from the sea for impromptu firefighting, trying to cover their faces as smoke enveloped the eastern region.

Their efforts were prompted by the fact that around 20,000 people were forced to evacuate houses and hotels in Rhodes as the hell that began a week ago has reached coastal resorts in the southeast of the country.

More than 2,000 vacationers returned home by plane on Monday, and more repatriation flights are expected on Tuesday. Tour operators have also canceled upcoming trips.

Vacationers pass buckets of water from the sea to each other Photo: Petros Giannakouris

Hundreds of firefighters, supported by forces from Turkey and Slovakia, try to tame the fires caused by heat and wind.

Forest fires are common in Greece in summer. but climate change has brought more extreme heat to southern Europe, raising fears that tourists will stay away.

Fires also raged on the country's second largest island, Evia, where the Greek civil protection authorities issued a night evacuation order in one northern locality and in Corfu, off the west coast.

A man uses a fire extinguisher to put out a fire near the Lindos seaside resort on the island of Rhodes. Credit: Petros Giannakouris/AP

“We are at war and focused solely on the front line,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Parliament on Monday.

He warned that the country would have «three more difficult days» before high temperatures were forecast to drop.

Vasilis Kikilias, Greece's civil protection minister, said brigades had fought more than 500 fires across the country for 12 days in a row.

“Fires have resumed throughout the country. country, but the settlements are not yet in danger,” a fire department spokesman told Reuters.

On Tuesday, a «red alert» was issued in many regions, indicating extreme risk of wildfires exacerbated by strong winds.

A man covers his head with a T-shirt, desperately trying to stop the spread of flames near Lindos. Photo: Petros Yannakouris

Despite his concerns, Michael Gove said he would go on vacation to Rhodes tomorrow if it was an island on fire.

The Level Up Secretary insisted it was safe to visit the island and advised that next week he should go on vacation to another part of Greece.

Speaking in an interview with Times Radio, he denied that the Foreign Office had taken too calm a position in deciding not to advise the British not to come to the country.< /p>

Greece has experienced very high temperatures in recent weeks and the mercury column was predicted to rise to 41 degrees Celsius on Wednesday in the capital, Athens, and up to 44 degrees in some areas, according to EMY, the national weather forecaster. Celsius.