High fire risk in seven areas on Sunday

The General Secretariat for Civil Protection announced that for Sunday, 20 September 2026, Lesbos, Psara, Chios, Icaria, the Cyclades, and areas of Attica and Euboea are placed in fire danger category 3, meaning high fire risk. The classification is reflected in the daily fire danger forecast map issued by Civil Protection, which is reviewed on a daily basis according to weather conditions and vegetation dryness levels. Earlier, the same service had published the forecast map for Saturday, 19 September, but the specific risk levels for that day’s map are not available here.

Category 3 corresponds to a level of heightened readiness for civil protection services and the Fire Service, with intensified surveillance in areas with forest and agricultural land. In areas classified as high risk, Civil Protection recommends avoiding activities in outdoor spaces that could cause sparks or ignition, such as lighting fires. This is a general warning recommendation and not a specific measure or ban that has been separately announced for Sunday. The fire danger forecast map is published on a daily basis by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and informs citizens, local authorities and emergency services of the level of alert that applies each day in each region of the country.

For residents and visitors in Lesbos, Psara, Chios, Icaria, the Cyclades, and the included areas of Attica and Euboea, the classification in category 3 means practically increased caution in daily fire-related activities during Sunday. These are mainly island areas of the Aegean, where forest and scrub vegetation combined with the weather conditions of the period determine the risk level assessed by Civil Protection. The inclusion of parts of Attica and Euboea in the same list extends heightened alert to the wider mainland country. These seven regions, islands and mainland together, cover a broad geographic range, a fact that reflects the scope of the assessment carried out daily by Civil Protection at national level.

The specific risk levels for each area on the Saturday, 19 September map have not been made public, nor has any specific measure, ban or order been announced beyond the general recommendation for increased caution that accompanies the high-risk classification. It has also not been clarified whether this categorisation will also apply in the days after Sunday. The General Secretariat for Civil Protection is expected to issue a new forecast map for the following days, as it does on a daily basis, with updated assessment by regional unit. For further developments regarding forest fires in the country during these days, more in the related section forest fires.