A woman protects herself from the sun while walking in Greece (EPA)
Holly Evans19 June 2024 13:40
Travel company adapting trips according to heat levels
Radek Nowak, active product manager for Intrepid Travel – an agency that specialises in walking holidays, said they have had to adapt trips according to the heat: “The soaring summer temperatures in Europe are certainly making it more challenging for people to do more active holidays.”
Intrepid no longer runs hiking trips in Spain and Portugal during the hottest months of July and August. Winter trips have been added instead in countries such as Greece and Croatia.
Radek added: “When groups are doing walks or hikes in the warm weather, we plan our days around the weather, heading out early in the morning before the heat reaches its peak.”
Holly Evans19 June 2024 12:40
British teenager missing in Tenerife as family make urgent plea
As concerns continue to grow for missing tourists in Greece, rescue efforts have been launched in the Spanish island of Tenerfie after a British teenager went missing on Monday.
Jay Slater, 19, from Lancashire, was last heard from at 8.15am as told a friend he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot.
His friend Lucy – who had gone to the island with him to attend the NRG music festival – told the Manchester Evening News (MEN) that Mr Slater had gone to stay with people he had met on holiday after a night out.
She said she had received a call from Mr Slater as he was trying to walk back, although he had said he was lost, needed a drink of water and had only 1% battery on his phone.
His phone then cut off, with his last location showing as the Rural de Teno park – a mountainous area popular with hikers.
His family have now flown to the location and have launched a Facebook group to help with the search.
Holly Evans19 June 2024 11:34
Girlfriend of missing hiker criticises Greek authorities search efforts
The girlfriend of a missing American tourist has criticised Greek authorities for their search efforts, accusing them of acting on the bare minimum to find her partner.
Albert Calibet, 59, has been missing on the island of Amorgos since last Tuesday after setting off for a four-hour hike. An experienced walker, the former deputy at LA Sheriff’s Department had left his accommodation at 7am but failed to answer his mobile phone.
“I’m totally disgusted with the way we’ve been treated,” his partner Debbie Leshane told The New York Post. “Albert has been a first responder since he was 25 years old. Everybody deserves to be searched for. But he really, honestly deserves it.”
She and his relatives have travelled to the island themselves to form their own rescue team, after local authorities only flew a helicopter in the air for two hours.
Promises to bring in drones, sniffer dogs and more helicopter searches have been unfulfilled with the family’s attempts to pay for further assistance has allegedly been rebuffed.
Holly Evans19 June 2024 10:34
Weather forecast for the coming days in Greece
Last week, Greece recorded its earliest ever heatwave as temperatures soared to around 38C for more than three days running, as hot winds from north Africa pushed up the temperatures.
Authorities were forced to close the Acropolis and all other archaeological sites in the Greek capital, with officials on high alert for wildfires.
Many schools were also closed while emergency services continue to search for missing tourists who have fallen victim to the hot weather, with an American tourist and a French couple currently at the centre of the searches.
Over the coming days, hot conditions will continue with Athens consistently seeing highs of 35C, the popular tourist islands of Rhodes and Corfu hitting 32C and 36C, and the Cyclades Islands reaching 30C for the next week.
Holly Evans19 June 2024 09:53
Greek commander says he ‘can’t remember anything like it’
Concern has mounted among the Greek emergency services that foreign tourists are not being properly informed of the risks posed by hiking in such high temperatures.
“In all my years in the police service, overseeing such operations, I can’t remember anything like it,” said one commander on Syros.
“But we have to bear in mind that this has been the hottest June ever and all of these people decided to go out hiking. You can’t arrest someone for deciding to take a walk, and you can’t force them to stay indoors, you can only hope that while on holiday tourists will have their wits about them in such heat.”
Holly Evans19 June 2024 08:42
Tributes to ‘hard working’ horse trainer found on Greek beach
An American tourist who died in Greece has been identified.
Toby Sheets, a Floral Park resident for more than 20 years, was found on a beach on the Greek island of Mathraki Sunday, his family told CBS News.
Sheets, 55, worked as the longtime assistant trainer to horse racing Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the leading horse trainer in North America by wins.
His father told CBS News Sheets was “a very hard worker and he was doing what he loved, training horses” and “will be dearly missed.”
“New York’s horse racing community grieves the loss of Toby Sheets, and NYRA extends our condolences to Toby’s family and legion of friends.” added Patrick McKenna of the New York Racing Association.
Barney Davis19 June 2024 06:02
Source link : https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greece-heatwave-temperatures-weather-tourists-missing-b2564350.html
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Publish date : 2024-06-19 15:17:00
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