First flights arrive in Rhodes to rescue tourists fleeing wildfires

Repatriation flights are arriving in the fire-ravaged Rhodes to rescue British holidaymakers stuck in a "living nightmare."

EasyJet has confirmed it will will operate two rescue flights, totalling 421 seats, today on Monday, July 23 and a third on Tuesday, in addition to its nine scheduled flights to the Greek island. The flights come after authorities began evacuating people from Corfu as well as Rhodes.

As the wildfires spread across the holiday destination, a British Foreign Office spokesman confirmed a Rapid Deployment Team had arrived on Rhodes to support travel operators in bringing Britons home. Some flights out of Rhodes were delayed on Sunday night, including an easyJet flight due to arrive in Gatwick at 9pm which touched down at 11.30pm after stopping for a crew change in Milan.

Watch family's Rhodes wildfire holiday nightmare as they're told to 'run' from flames

A later easyJet flight landed at Gatwick at 2.23am, an hour and a half after it was due, while there were further delays amid the overnight flights from Jet2 and TUI to Nottingham, Birmingham, Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle. Further easyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair flights from Rhodes were scheduled to arrive at Gatwick, Stansted and Bristol on Monday afternoon.

On Saturday, families fled their hotels, leaving their belongings behind, as the huge flames crawled closer, with some having to spend the night in local stadiums and schools. Some flight operators, including TUI, continued sending tourists to the island as late as Saturday night, with one customer complaining they had been "abandoned" there.

On Sunday, TUI suspended its flights to Rhodes until Tuesday, while Jet2 Holidays cancelled its trips until next Sunday. However, easyJet has maintained a