First Thing: Greece battles wildfires as temperature in Italy forecast to hit 46C

People try to protect a house from wildfires in the Lagonisi area, near the Greek capital, Athens. Photograph: Spyros Bakalis/AFP/Getty Images

Good morning.

Swaths of virgin pine forests have been destroyed in Greece as devastating wildfires continue to tear through terrain turned tinder-dry by the extreme heat, writes Helena Smith, the Guardian’s correspondent in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.