Red Code in five areas on Sunday

The Region of Attica together with Kythira, the Regional Unit of Voiotia, the Regional Unit of Evia together with Skyros, the Regional Unit of the Cyclades and the Region of Crete are being placed on Red Code mobilisation status for Sunday 16 August 2026. The announcement was issued by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and is accompanied by a forecast of very high fire risk, category 4, for the same areas. Municipalities and regions are called upon to convene their local and regional civil protection coordinating bodies immediately, so that the readiness of equipment and personnel can be checked. Red Code status concerns the readiness of the state machinery and does not automatically entail evacuations or a ban on movement for the public.

The decision was taken after the meeting of the Risk Assessment Committee on Friday 14 August, chaired by the General Secretary for Civil Protection, Nikos Papaefstathiou, and attended by the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Evangelos Tournas. The decisive factor remains the wind. On Saturday 15 August, winds of 5 to 7 on the Beaufort scale were recorded in Thrace, 6 to 8 in the north and north-east Aegean, 6 to 7 and locally 8 in Attica and Voiotia and in Evia, 7 to 8 and locally 9 in the central Aegean and the Cyclades, while in Crete gusts exceeded 100 kilometres per hour in the south. Gale-force winds are the factor that makes a blaze harder to control, since they increase the speed at which it spreads and at the same time limit the ability of aircraft and helicopters to operate.

For Sunday a gradual easing is forecast, with 5 to 7 Beaufort in Attica and Voiotia, 6 to 8 in southern Evia and 5 to 7 with locally 8 in the Cyclades, Crete, Kasos and Karpathos, and a further decline from the afternoon onwards. The Fire Service issued a corresponding notice on its operational readiness, providing for reinforced patrols, personnel on immediate standby and the forward positioning of vehicles and aircraft in high-risk areas. In practice, forward positioning means that vehicles and crews are moved from their stations to points close to high-risk areas, so that the time to first attack is kept to a minimum.

Under category 4, movement and presence in forests and woodland areas is banned, as is any use of fire in the open, with the relevant local decisions issued by the municipalities and regions. Crete had already been placed on category 4 for Saturday as well, as TodayGrid recorded in the report “Dormition of the Virgin: fire risk in 10 areas”. The public is asked to notify 199 immediately whenever smoke is spotted. Over the past ten days the country has recorded a series of major fires, from Halkidiki and Lefkada to Fthiotida, Drama and Arcadia.