Sardinia wildfires: Holidaymakers flee in panic from popular beach Punta Molentis as huge fire spreads rapidly

Sunbathers were sent fleeing after flames reached right up to the sand near Punta Molentis on the southeast of the island. The island's coast guard evacuated 102 people by sea while a helicopter watched from above during the operation after the sunseekers were blocked from driving off.

Some 200 cars and a kiosk were torched and strong winds made the job for firefighters tackling the blaze trickier. Beachgoers filmed the thick black and grey smoke rising into the sky as they gathered their towels and spades and prepared to flee.

Many of those at the beach had driven down near the water to save them walking in the 34C heat. The area of the Sardinian coast is known as Sarrabus - with local media saying a "jewel" had been destroyed in the fire.

Firefighters battled the blaze from the air with two Canadair aerial firefighting plane, a firefighting helicopter, aircraft from the regional fleet, and an Italian Air Force vehicle. It comes after a heatwave is gripping Europe and wildfires are erupting.

In Turkey some 3,500 people have been evacuated after the wildfires hit the northwest of the country. More than 1,900 firefighters were drafted in to help save those still trapped and to extinguish the flames.

Fires have also hit Greece after a week-long heatwave peaked with temperatures surpassing 45 degrees. Thousands of people were evacuated as fires swept villages near Athens and Aegean islands.