WATER-DROPPING planes swooped over a major wildfire west of Athens on Monday, a day after a mid-air collision between two firefighting helicopters killed two crew members.

A Greek and a Danish national died in the collision and two others were hospitalised, while the firefighting effort along mountainous and coastal areas was hindered by powerful gales at the weekend.

As parts of southern Europe continued to endure exceptionally high temperatures, firefighters in France guarded against potential flare-ups inside a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris.

In Greece, strong winds eased on Monday, allowing the deployment of 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters around the fire-hit seaside resort of Porto Germenos, where multiple evacuations have been ordered.

Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said: “Conditions are better, but we are pressing forward because there are still multiple points of activity.”

Some 500 firefighters halted the fire’s advance, but authorities warned that areas surrounding Athens remained at high risk. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the region, including over 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area.

The blaze was blamed on a faulty power cable from a wind farm and led to the arrests of two contractors on charges of negligent arson.

Despite improved detection methods and expanded co-operation between European Union member states, Greece and other countries on the Mediterranean suffer devastating wildfires every summer as heatwaves grow longer.

Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus climate service. 

In France, thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home and or to holiday accommodation on Monday after a massive wildfire remained contained. 

More than 224,000 people had fled, in what officials said was the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

The wildfire, which burned about 162 square miles, was France’s worst wildfire on record.