Expert says heat and urban sprawl worsened fires in Athens

A long summer heatwave and urban expansion into the hillsides around Athens worsened conditions for a wildfire around the Greek capital this week, that killed a woman, torched buildings, devoured woodland and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. The UN's Chief Heat Officer, Eleni Myrivili, speaking from Lesbos, Greece, said that urban spread in the greater Athens area over the past decades also meant that houses were standing in areas that used to be forests.