Thousands of tourists and residents fleeing wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes took refuge in schools and shelters on Sunday, with many evacuated on private boats as flames threatened resorts and coastal villages.

Thousands spent the night on beaches and streets during what Greece said was its biggest safe transport of residents and tourists in emergency conditions.

Some 19,000 people were moved from homes and hotels overnight as fires burning since Wednesday gathered pace, tearing through forests until the flames reached coastal resorts on the island's southeastern coast.

Some holidaymakers said they walked for miles in scorching heat to reach safety. The fires left trees black and skeletal. Dead animals lay in the road near burnt-out cars.

Rhodes is a hugely popular holiday destination, particularly with visitors from Britain.

Tour operators Jet2, TUI and Correndon cancelled flights leaving for Rhodes, which lies southeast of mainland Greece and is famous for its beaches and historic sites.

The Greek transport ministry said TUI and Jet2, which handle the bulk of tourism to Rhodes, planned 14 scheduled flights from Rhodes airport, transferring about 2,700 passengers until 3 a.m. (2400 GMT).

Temperatures over the past week have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Greece. In addition to Rhodes, emergency services were dealing with fires on the island of Evia, east of Athens and Aigio, southwest of Athens, and on the island of Corfu where authorities ordered the precautionary evacuation of a number of small settlements.

The fire on Corfu, an island which lies west of Greece, was burning on a large front. Boats in the area had been dispatched to evacuate residents by sea, a government official said.

A fire brigade official said the wildfires on Rhodes have affected 10 percent of hotels in the central and southeast parts of the island. The north and western parts were not affected. The government official who spoke of Corfu said the fires on Rhodes were largely contained.

Coastguard vessels and private boats carried more than 3,000 tourists from beaches on Saturday. Many people fled hotels when huge flames reached the seaside villages of Kiotari, Gennadi, Pefki, Lindos, Lardos and Kalathos. Crowds gathered in streets under a red sky while smoke hung over deserted shorelines.

Pictures and videos posted by tourists on social media showed local residents using their own cars or bundling tourists into trucks and pick-ups to take them to safety.

According to the Fire Forecast Map issued by the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry, there is a very high risk of fire (risk category five and four) for many places across the country next Monday including Attica, Evia, islands of the northern and southern Aegean, and Crete.

(With input from Reuters)