It is deliberately not a risk rating. We do not tell you that a place, a day or a season is safe or dangerous, we do not name islands or regions as more or less at risk, and we give no emergency instructions of our own. Those judgements belong to the Greek civil protection and emergency services, on the day, for your exact location. What we can usefully do is point you at the official channels and explain who issues what, so you can follow them directly.
Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
The daily fire-risk map: who issues it, and what it is
Greece publishes a fire-risk forecast every day through the fire season. It is issued by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection, part of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, and it grades the regions of the country by the risk of fire starting and spreading that day, on an ascending scale whose highest level is a state of extreme alert.
Two things to understand about it. It is a forecast of conditions, not a live map of where fires are burning: it tells you where the combination of heat, dryness and wind makes fire dangerous, which is a different and more useful planning tool than a list of current incidents. And it is issued per region, updated daily, which is why the honest thing for us to do is send you to the map for your dates and your area rather than print a static claim that is out of date by tomorrow.
The map is published on the civil protection service’s own site, civilprotection.gov.gr, and it is the authority to read before and during a trip in the fire season, which runs roughly from spring into October.
112: the emergency number and the alert system
The single most important thing to know is the number. 112 is the European emergency number and it works in Greece, free, from any phone, and it reaches the emergency services.
It is also the backbone of the public warning system. In an emergency such as an approaching wildfire, the Greek authorities send 112 emergency alerts as SMS messages to phones in the affected area, run through the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, with instructions for that specific situation. If you receive a 112 alert in Greece, it is the authorities telling you something about where you actually are, and it is to be acted on rather than second-guessed.
To report a fire you have seen, the Fire Service is reached on 199, and 112 reaches the emergency services too. Reporting quickly is the one active thing an ordinary person is asked to do; everything else is to follow official instructions.
Two practical points that are ours to make because they are about your phone, not about safety. Keep your phone charged and its sound on in the fire season so a 112 alert can reach you, and make sure it is not in a mode that would silence an emergency broadcast. And know the numbers before you need them: 112 for an emergency, 199 to report a fire.
Heat: what the weather service and the health authorities publish
The heat side of a Greek summer has its own official channels, separate from the fire map.
Weather warnings, including for extreme heat, are issued by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, Greece’s official meteorological authority, and that is the source to read for what the weather is forecast to do rather than a travel site’s summary. During severe heatwaves the Greek authorities also issue public health guidance and can take measures such as adjusting outdoor working hours and opening air-conditioned public spaces; those come from the relevant Greek ministries and are announced at the time.
We give no medical advice of our own here, for the same reason we give no fire-risk rating: it is not ours to give, and a general web page is the wrong place for a health judgement about a specific person on a specific day. What the country’s own services publish, and your own doctor, are the right sources. Our pharmacies and health guide keeps to that same line, and Greece with a baby does too for the youngest travellers.
Where this leaves your planning
Nothing on this page should stop anyone visiting Greece in summer, and nothing on it should reassure them either, because neither is ours to do. What it should do is make you a reader of the official sources rather than the unofficial ones.
The durable takeaways, none of which rots between seasons: the civil protection service issues a daily fire-risk map by region, 112 is the emergency number and the channel through which official alerts reach your phone, 199 reports a fire, and the meteorological service is the authority for heat warnings. Check the map for your dates, keep your phone able to receive an alert, and follow whatever the authorities say on the day for the place you are actually in.
If the heat itself is a factor in when you go rather than a safety question, the shoulder seasons are the practical answer, and the best time to visit Greece, the shoulder season and Greece weather by month work through the trade between a quieter, cooler trip and the peak of summer.
Last checked July 2026. What gets re-checked here: the naming of the issuing authorities (the General Secretariat for Civil Protection under the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, and the Hellenic National Meteorological Service) and the official channel URLs and numbers. No island or region is named as fire-prone, no day, place or season is rated safe or unsafe, and no medical or emergency instruction is given in our own voice, all by design. The official sources are linked so you read them directly.
Quick answers
How do you check the wildfire risk in Greece?
Read the official daily fire-risk map, issued each day in the fire season by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection under the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and published on the civil protection service’s own site. It grades the country by region on an ascending risk scale. It is a forecast of fire conditions rather than a live map of current fires, and it is the authority to follow rather than a travel page.
What is the 112 alert in Greece?
112 is the European emergency number, free from any phone and working throughout Greece, and it is also the country’s public warning channel: in an emergency such as an approaching wildfire, the authorities send 112 SMS alerts to phones in the affected area with instructions for that situation. If you get a 112 alert, act on it. Keep your phone charged and able to receive it during the fire season.
What number do you call to report a fire in Greece?
The Fire Service is reached on 199, and the European emergency number 112 also reaches the emergency services. Reporting a fire you have seen quickly is the one active thing travellers are asked to do; beyond that, the guidance is to follow the instructions of the authorities and any 112 alerts rather than to act on your own judgement.
Is it safe to travel to Greece in summer with the wildfire risk?
That is not a judgement we make, and any page that answers it with a flat yes or no is overstepping. The safe-versus-not question belongs to the Greek civil protection and emergency services, for your specific dates and location, on the day. What we can tell you is where to read their information: the daily fire-risk map, the 112 alert system and the meteorological service’s heat warnings, all linked and named on this page.
Who issues heat warnings in Greece?
The Hellenic National Meteorological Service is Greece’s official meteorological authority and issues weather warnings, including for extreme heat. During severe heatwaves the Greek authorities also publish public health guidance and can adjust outdoor working hours and open cooled public spaces, announced at the time by the relevant ministries. We give no medical advice of our own; the official services and your own doctor are the right sources.