Is it safe to travel to Greece? UK Foreign Office changes advice as wildfires blaze in Rhodes and Corfu

The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for people travelling to parts of Greece as the country continues to battle blazing wildfires.

Thousands of Britons have been evacuated from fire-ravaged parts of Rhodes over the past few days, with repatriation flights landing in the UK overnight and on Tuesday (25 July).

The government has said as many as 10,000 British holidaymakers are estimated to be on the Greek island and around 30,000 are due to travel there over the next few weeks, according to The Times.

Holiday operators, including Jet2 and TUI, are continuing to cancel flights and holidays to Rhodes, meaning thousands could have their travel plans scuppered. Meanwhile, Ryanair has said flights to the island are “currently operating as normal and unaffected by the forest fires”, while British Airways flights to Rhodes are also still running.

Authorities have said more than 20,000 people have been involved in evacuations on the island - mostly tourists over the weekend - when fire swept through two coastal areas on the south east of Rhodes.

Evacuation orders were also issued on the islands of Corfu and Eviva after temperatures rose above 40C again in parts of Greece. A blaze in Rhodes continued to move inland leaving mountainous forest areas torched, including part of a nature reserve.

Is it safe to travel to Greece?

The UK Foreign Office has not formally advised people not to travel to Greece, including Rhodes and Corfu which are both battling wildfires.

Government advice instead recommends that holidaymakers due to travel to an area of Greece that might be affected by wildfires contact their travel operator, or accommodation provider, before travelling to check it is not currently impacted.

It also recommends that anyone going to Greece has “appropriate insurance”, adding that it should “cover your itinerary, planned activities and expenses in an emergency”.

In an update on Tuesday, the UK Foreign Office said: “Be cautious if you are in or near an area affected by wildfires. You should:

• follow the guidance of the emergency services
• call the Greek Emergency Services on 112 if you are in immediate danger
• contact your airline or travel operator who can assist you with return travel to the UK.
• enable the “Emergency Alerts” option to receive the Greek government’s emergency alerts:
• for iPhones go to Settings > Notification. Enable the “Emergency Alerts” option at the bottom.
• for Android 11 and higher go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced Settings > Wireless Emergency Alerts
• for Samsung Devices go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Notifications > Emergency Notifications. Enable the “Emergency Alerts” option
• read the Greek Government’s protection guidelines in the event of a forest fire.
• register via the Greek government’s Emergency Communication Service (in Greek)

“The Greek government has set up a Crisis Management Unit to facilitate the evacuation of foreign visitors from Rhodes due to the ongoing forest fires. Contact them for advice on:

• +30 210 368 1730
• +30 210 368 1259
• +30 210 368 1350

“If you are a British national and need consular assistance, call our 24-hour helpline on +44 20 7008 5000.”

Should I cancel my holiday to Greece?

Consumer champion Which? has urged holidaymakers due to visit Rhodes and Corfu in the coming weeks not to cancel their trip now as they may not get a refund. It said some travel firms have “dragged their feet” leaving people to choose between travelling to a natural disaster zone or losing money.

Which? said: “Some companies dragged their feet on updating flexible booking policies, forcing them to choose between travelling into a natural disaster zone, or sensibly cancelling and losing their money as a result.

“Without a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office warning against travel to the affected regions, travellers who don’t want to go but are refused flexibility to rebook are likely to be left holding the bill for acting sensibly, and will be unable to claim on their travel insurance.”

Holidaymakers with a package holiday booked can cancel and receive a full refund “if unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity which significantly affect the performance of the package or the carriage of passengers to the destination”.

If the area you are due to travel to is under an evacuation order, your rights in terms of cancelling or postponing your trip depend on how you booked it.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, explains: “If you’ve booked a package holiday you’re in a better position – you’ve got better protections, and generally the tour operators look after their customers a little bit better.

“In most cases you will have the opportunity to rebook or perhaps claim a voucher to book a holiday somewhere else. Some of the better holiday companies are allowing people to do that a week or two weeks in advance.”

He added: “There are some protections in the package travel regulations that specify if extraordinary circumstances at a destination significantly affect the performance of the package then you have the right to cancel. But if the tour operator is saying no, the way to enforce that right is likely going to be through the courts – that won’t be for everybody.”

If you arranged your holiday independently by booking flights and accommodation separately, you don’t have the same protections as with tour operators and your rights will depend on what the airline or hotel is doing.