One wildfire threatened the archeological site of Olympia – the home of the ancient Olympic games

A heatwave in Greece has fuelled forest fires across the country, forcing the evacuation of dozens of villages.

There have been more than 150 wildfires in recent days, and the civil protection authority has issued an “extreme fire warning” for Friday as temperatures reach around 40C (104F).

One wildfire threatened the archeological site of Olympia – the home of the ancient Olympic games – and continued to burn wooded areas on Thursday. On the outskirts of Athens, a major forest blaze was rekindled the same day, as well as dozens of smaller ones.

On the island of Evia, more than a dozen villages have been evacuated since Tuesday. On Thursday, authorities cleared yet more people from the island and six fire-dumping aircraft were operating in the area. At least three significant fires were still burning on the island.

No deaths or severe injuries have been reported, but there has been widespread destruction to Greece’s forests and buildings.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the authorities were doing “whatever is humanly possible” to tackle the disaster. The armed forces announced a doubling of fire patrols this month and offered vehicles to help with evacuations.

Greece’s opposition parties, Syriza and KINAL, have criticised the government for being too slow to respond to the fires on Tuesday when the wind speeds were lower and conditions more favourable.

Neighbouring countries in the Mediterranean region have continued to suffer similar conditions, with deadly wildfires blazing across Turkey and Italy. In Albania, officials said one person died of smoke inhalation near the southern city of Gjirokaster.