Residents and tourists have fled hot spots on the Greek island of Rhodes as firefighters, backed by water jets and helicopters, battle a blaze that sparked the country’s largest-ever fire evacuation.

Wind gusts of up to 49km/h (30mph) were complicating efforts to bring the flames under control on Sunday. The island of Rhodes is one of Greece’s most popular vacation destinations, particularly with British, German and French tourists – many of whom were being rapidly moved out of the path of the flames.

As Greece has been battered by an extended spell of extreme heat, flames have burned for nearly a week on the island. Temperatures, which reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in central Greece on Sunday, were expected to dip on Monday before the mercury rises again for another four-day heatwave.