Rhodes wildfire: British family spend night on school floor after evacuation order
A British family spent a night sleeping on the floor of a school after being evacuated from a wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes.
The Bowrey family were ordered to leave their rented villa near Lindos overnight on Saturday after receiving an emergency alert on their phones.
Up to 19,000 tourists and locals have been evacuated across Rhodes due to the raging wildfire.
The fire started in the mountainous centre of the island, but with strong winds and bone dry conditions has spread rapidly east towards villages and seaside resorts.
Weather – latest: Largest ever evacuation from Greece over wildfires in Rhodes
After receiving an evacuation alert late last night, the Bowrey family rushed in a minivan to an evacuation point which had been set up at a school, where they and hundreds of others spent the night.
Finlay, 23, who was holidaying with his parents having recently attended his COVID-delayed graduation, said he managed “45 minutes” of sleep on the floor.
“I just had my Crocs and a pillow,” he told Sky News.
The school was turned into an evacuation point due to wildfires
“There were hundreds of people there. There were a few mattresses, but they were saved for babies and some of the older people.
“People came and brought us water and snacks. They were doing what they could to help everyone.”
“They were real angels – we were so grateful to them for that,” his mother, Victoria, added.
“It felt well-prepared – like they had been training for this situation.”
Speaking about the evacuation, she said: “As we were driving to the evacuation point, we could see the smoke and there was a red hue in the distance.
The Bowrey family were renting a villa near Lindos when they were told to evacuate
“It looked like the whole island was on fire.”
The family, who arrived on Rhodes last weekend, are due to fly back home to Dorset on Monday.
But they face the possibility of delays, as hundreds of others tourists attempt to leave the island.
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‘My house’: Rhodes resident evacuates
‘We feel like caged animals’
Another holidaymaker, Ben Wright, told Sky News how he had been stuck at Rhodes Airport for 18 hours after his flight home was delayed amid the disruption.
“We were forced to sleep on the airport floor as easyJet did not provide us with any accommodation,” he said.
“We have been stuck here for 18 hours and easyJet has continued to delay our flight to Gatwick and have provided a different reason each time.
Families spend the night on the floor of Rhodes Airport. Pic: Ben Wright
“Lots of people have come straight from beaches and evacuated from burning hotels. We are a mix of people who have been evacuated and other tourists like us.
“We feel like caged animals.”
He said that passengers have been told that a plane is being flown out to pick them up this afternoon, but that it may not be big enough to take all of those currently at the airport.
Read more:
Rhodes wildfires: What rights do holidaymakers have?
British tourist says trying to escape flames ‘was like the end of the world’
The Greek government says a total of 19,000 people have been evacuated – 16,000 by land and 3,000 by sea – in what it has described as the “largest ever” wildfire evacuation in Greece’s history.
A number of locations on the east of the island have been evacuated, including three seaside resorts.
Around 2,000 tourists have been evacuated from Kiotari and Lardos on the island’s south east coast.
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Wildfire evacuee ‘lost everything’ last night
An alert is also in place for Lindos, a town popular with tourists and famed for its hilltop acropolis which has its roots back as far as 300BC, as well as the villages of Massari, Malonas, Charaki.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is urging Britons on the island to follow the advice of Greek emergency services and to contact the consulate for advice on leaving Rhodes.
UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.
Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA.
In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.
Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.
More than one in five said they would never buy an EV.
The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK focuses heavily on increasing the supply of the vehicles.
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What you can do to reach net zero
In 2024, at least 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK had to be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.
Each year, those percentages will rise, reaching 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in 2030.
Manufacturers will face fines of £15,000 per vehicle if electric vehicle sales fall short of 28% of total production this year.
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By 2035, all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero emission, according to the Department for Transport.
Second-hand diesel and petrol cars will still be allowed to be sold after this date, and their fuel will still be available.
There are more EVs – but will people buy them?
In February, 25% of new cars were powered purely by battery and in January, they made up 21% of all new cars registered in the UK.
But despite the growth of electric sales, manufacturers continue to warn that the market will not support the growth required to hit government EV targets, and called for consumer incentives and the extension of tax breaks.
The AA suggested the government’s plan focuses on “supply but does little to encourage demand for EVs”.
It called on ministers to co-ordinate a public awareness campaign alongside the motoring industry which directly targets drivers who doubt the viability of EVs.
“Our message to government is more needs to be done to make EVs accessible for everyone,” said Jakob Pfaudler, AA chief executive.
Which? head of consumer rights Sue Davis said: “When it comes to making sustainable choices such as switching to an electric car, our research shows that people are often held back by high costs, complex choices or uncertainty.
“The government needs to provide the right information on electric vehicles and other sustainable choices so that people have the confidence to switch.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We’re investing over £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs.
“This includes installing a public charge point every 28 minutes, keeping EV incentives in the company car tax regime to 2030, and extending 100% first-year allowances for zero-emission cars for another year.
“Second-hand EVs are also becoming cheaper than ever, with one in three available under £20,000 and 21 brand new models available for less than £30,000.
“We’re seeing growing consumer confidence as a result.”
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