A WILDFIRE burned through a northern suburb of Athens at the weekend and some residents were ordered to evacuate.

Residents of the town of Kryoneri, about 12 miles north-east of the Greek capital received three text messages instructing them to move to safe areas, fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyannis told reporters on Saturday.

Greek media have shown houses on fire. Mr Vathrakoyannis said that “there have been reports of damages. We will take stock when the fires have been put out.”

“The real difficulties are ahead of us,” he said, adding that Greece has asked for six firefighting planes from the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism.

Temperatures reaching 38°C or more, dry conditions and high winds are fanning the flames.

Under such conditions, wildfires “expand very quickly and become dangerous. These conditions are expected to prevail over the coming days,” Mr Vathrakoyannis said.

The fire service is also dealing with three other major fires: on Greece’s two largest islands — Crete in the south and Evia, north of Athens — and on the island of Kythera, north-west of Crete.

Wildfires, many of them destructive, have become a common occurrence in Greece in recent years. Several have broken out in the past month.