A family were forced to abandon their dream destination wedding after a huge cloud of smoke from raging Greek wildfires blacked out the sky. Emily Wilde, 26, and her family had to halt her mother's wedding on the island of Kos after what they thought was a "rain cloud" - but was in fact smoke from wildfires that have been raging in Greece - filled the sky. Hundreds of tourists and residents were forced to flee on Monday as the flames spread amid "apocalyptic" scenes on the island, which has been roasting in summer heats.
After taking sunset pictures on the beach where staff told them not to panic about the growing smoke clouds, the wedding group was told to immediately get changed, grab their belongings and abandon the ceremony. "We were put on a bus and the bus driver just dropped us off in the middle of this town," Emily explained. Despite attempting to ask the driver if they were in the right location and for directions to the football pitch, the family was left abandoned in a town they did not know.
Has your holiday been impacted by the wildfires in Greece? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com "It was [the football pitch] an hour walk from where they dropped us off. We had the babies with us and had been drinking, but we had no choice but to start walking," Emily shared.
Luckily, Emily spotted a preschool that appeared to be taking people in and asked if her and her family could also take refuge in the school. "At this point it was quarter to 10," said Emily. The family had.