Michael Gove: I'm going on holiday to 'safe' Greece despite wildfires

Housing Secretary rejects concerns that Foreign Office advice to tourists is too relaxed

The UK government has stopped short of telling people not to travel to wildfire-hit parts of Greece such as Rhodes. AFP

A British minister said on Tuesday he planned to take a holiday on a Greek island despite raging wildfires, which he insisted did not make the country unsafe.

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared the country was “at war” with the fires being fuelled by 40°C weather and tinder-dry forests.

But Britain's Housing Secretary Michael Gove rejected claims that the UK Foreign Office was taking too relaxed an approach by not issuing advice to avoid Greece.

Insurers typically take their lead from Foreign Office advice in deciding whether to cover tourists. The current guidance is that people should follow local advice.

Mr Gove, speaking for the government on a morning broadcast round, said the “advice is clear” that “if you follow the Foreign Office advice it is safe”.

“In fact, I’m due to go on holiday, God willing, to Greece in just over a week’s time, not to Rhodes but to another island and I’m looking forward to going,” said Mr Gove.

“Greece is a wonderful country, a wonderful place to holiday and we do need to support the Greek government in dealing with the situation in Rhodes.”

Mr Gove said the island he was heading to was Evia, near Athens, where evacuations have been ordered because of wildfires.

Rhodes has taken the brunt of the infernos as fires roared down mountain slopes, burning homes and cars and leaving livestock dead on the roadside.

No serious injuries have been reported to humans but tourists have been given first aid for the effects of heat and dehydration.

Tui, one of the world's largest tour operators, has said it was cancelling trips to Rhodes until Friday and offering free cancellations or rebookings to other destinations. It said it had 39,000 customers on the island.

Wildfires in Greece – in pictures

A fireman holds a cat and two rabbits after rescuing them from a fire on the Greek island of Rhodes. AFP

Local residents try to extinguish a fire near the seaside resort of Lindos, on the island of Rhodes. AP

Tourists wait for buses at Gennadi Beach on the Island of Rhodes. AP

German tourists and local residents try to extinguish a fire near the seaside resort of Lindos. AP

Tourists take water from the swimming pool of a hotel as they try to extinguish a fire near the seaside resort of Lindos. AP

Smoke rises on Corfu following a wildfire. Reuters

Tourists wait for departing planes at the airport, after being evacuated following a wildfire on the island of Rhodes. Reuters

Over 10,000 people have been evacuated following a wildfire on the island of Rhodes. Reuters

People watch the fires near the village of Malona in Rhodes. AFP

A large wildfire burning on the Greek island of Rhodes has forced authorities to order an evacuation of four locations, including two seaside resorts. AP

A man carries a child as they leave an area where a forest fire burns. AP

The smoke cloud from the forest fire rises over the island of Rhodes. AP

More than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines were operating, assisted by three planes and five helicopters. EPA

Fires are common in Greece but hotter, drier and windy summers have turned the country into a wildfire hotspot in recent years. Reuters

Local officials on Rhodes said on Saturday they had moved 30,000 people threatened by wildfires to safety. Reuters

Volunteers try to put out a wildfire in Kiotari village, on Rhodes island. EPA

An empty beach in Rhodes. Thousands of locals and tourists have been evacuated from the area. Reuters

Coastguard vessels and more than 30 private boats took part in an operation near beaches. Reuters

Smoke rising from a wildfire covers the air over a basketball court near Lardos, on the island of Rhodes, Greece. Reuters

A fire engine from Slovakia in Kiotari village, on Rhodes island. EPA

Smoke rises from a burnt hotel complex during a wildfire. AFP

Addressing parliament, Mr Mitsotakis highlighted the threat from climate change, which he said would "make its presence ever more felt with greater natural disasters throughout the Mediterranean region”.

“We are at war – completely focused on the fires,” he said. “Over the coming days and weeks, we must remain on constant alert.”

In Greece, an average of 50 new wildfires have broken out daily for the past 12 days, according to government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis. On Sunday, 64 blazes were recorded.

Firefighters also tackled blazes on Monday in southern Italy, as a brush fire burnt near Palermo along with several other fires on the island of Sicily.