Greek villages evacuated as new wildfires break out near Athens

New wildfires broke out near Athens on Monday, prompting a wave of evacuations, including in places that had already been under threat from fire last week.

Firefighters from Greece and Romania battled a forest fire that was burning out of control 60 kilometres north-west of Athens, aided by six helicopters and five firefighting aircraft.

The Civil Defence ordered several villages be evacuated, including Vilia, where wildfires were raging last week.

Some houses in Vilia were already on fire, according to media reports.

There were 34 new wildfires across the nation that broke out in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday, according to the Greek fire brigade, which noted that most of the fires had been brought under control.

Strong winds fanned the flames in many areas.

Hundreds of wildfires burned throughout Greece earlier in August, prompting several countries to send teams of firefighters and firefighting aircraft to help.