Jet2, Tui and Thomas Cook forced to cancel holidays to popular destination as Brits flee massive wildfires

MAJOR UK airlines have been forced to cancel flights and holidays to a Greek holiday island as British families fled massive wildfires.

Huge blazes have seen up to 30,000 locals and tourists forced to evacuate parts of Rhodes, Greece.

A number of planes were scheduled to depart from East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted airports with passengers on board to begin their holidays.

Jet2 has now cancelled flights and holidays to Rhodes until next Sunday due to the wildfires.

However, the airline will still fly some airplanes out, with no passengers on board, so that it can bring customers back to the UK.

Any affected customers will be provided with a full refund and an opportunity to rebook, said the airline.

Jet2 said in a statement: "The situation in Rhodes continues to evolve quickly.

"We continue to ask customers in affected areas to follow the advice of the local authorities, as well as staff in their hotels, and we are contacting customers as quickly as possible."

The airline had previously said: "We will be contacting affected customers to update them, and to let them know that they will be provided with a full refund and the opportunity to rebook.

"We will fly those five aircraft to Rhodes with no customers onboard so that we can bring customers back to the UK on their scheduled flight."

The flames have burned for nearly a week on the island as Greece has been battered by an extended spell of extreme heat that has made it challenging to contain the blaze.

Fire crews are in a race against time to stop the fire spreading further with 21mph winds forecast for tomorrow.

Tui airlines also cancelled all holidays to the Greek island up to and including Tuesday July 25.

Tui said in a statement: "The situation in the Southern part of Rhodes remains volatile and challenging.

"Due to this and considering the impact on local communities being affected, Tui has decided to cancel all flights and booked holidays to Rhodes for departures up to and including Tuesday, July 25."

Greek authorities are saying it is the largest evacuation mission that has ever taken place in the country as rescue workers rush people to safety by both land and sea.

Extraordinary scenes from Rhodes show columns of people carrying their luggage while trying to escape.

The fire has scorched swathes of forest and also burned buildings since breaking out in a mountainous area on Tuesday.

The blaze spread to at least three hotels in the seaside village of Kiotari which caught fire on Saturday.

British tourists have described being caught up in the “terrifying” ordeal, with the Foreign Office directing UK nationals towards a crisis management unit set up by the Greek authorities.

British Embassy officials in Athens urged Brits to leave the area on Saturday evening.

And the battle is expected to worsen today, with more whipping winds blasting across the island and driving the flames.

"The wind is expected to become more intense from 12 to 5 pm, without excluding the possibility that could happen earlier," said fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis.

Authorities have warned that the battle to contain the flames, raging in the middle of peak tourism season for heavily visited Rhodes, will take several days.

Fleeing Brits have spent the night in makeshift camps across the island - with young kids forced to sleep on mattresses in classrooms and gyms.

Mum of three Helen Tonks, of Manchester, flew into Rhodes on Saturday night with her three daughters and husband ahead of a two-week sunshine break.

She told The Sun: “There was absolutely no communication whatsoever.

";We got out here and were told our hotel was among those evacuated.

"They put us on a coach and brought us to a school in Rhodes old town.

"There are hundreds of us here. We’ve been put up in makeshift dorms in classrooms.

"Dozens are sleeping on mattresses on the basketball court in the gymnasium.”

It comes as weather experts declared 2023 an El Niño year - a natural phenomenon that occurs cyclically and causes fluctuations in the global climate.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said it will raise temperatures around the world, and the effect is likely to continue for the rest of the year.

And despite the heat this summer, Europe's record temperature of 48.8C - recorded in 2021 in Sicily - has not been reached and is currently not forecast to be broken.