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What began as a dream summer holiday in Corfu quickly descended into chaos when a fast-moving wildfire forced British holidaymaker Rebecca Bell and her family to flee their villa with just minutes to spare. Rebecca was staying in the village of Sinies, a small hillside community a few kilometres from the beautiful fishing village of Kassiopi in north-east Corfu, when an emergency alert warned that wildfires were spreading nearby. The blaze erupted just days after devastating fires on the Greek island of Rhodes made international headlines in July 2023, with thousands of tourists evacuated and some forced to shelter on beaches as flames approached.

The Bell family would soon find themselves spending a tense night wondering whether their holiday home had survived as flames burned across the surrounding hillsides. Rebecca had travelled to the stunning Greek island with her husband, one of her daughters and her eldest daughter's friend. Her youngest daughter was due to fly out and join them a few days later, meaning the family were only at the very beginning of their holiday when disaster struck.

They had been at their villa for just two or three days when an unexpected emergency alert suddenly flashed up on their phones.

Rebecca recalled: "Everyone's phones suddenly went off with this strange warning sound. It was a government alert saying there were reports of wildfires in our area."

At first, there seemed little cause for concern. Looking around, they could neither see nor smell smoke.

"We were looking around trying to see if we could see anything but we couldn't see or smell anything."

When they received the alert, they were unsure what to do. The message was suggesting them to leave the villa and head down towards the port, but with no visible smoke or signs of fire nearby, they thought "surely not." They then got in their rental car and decided to go out for dinner in the fishing village and try to see if they could see anything more, maybe a bit further down.

They could see a little bit of smoke on the hills but when they continued down to have dinner in a small fishing village the restaurant owner told the family not to worry and that it happens every year. But moments later, one of the waiters showed them videos from his own village nearby.

"I was like I don't think this looks like nothing, this looks quite scary and he was like no, no, no, we get this every year."

After dinner, the parents drove back toward their villa .

"My husband and I decided we would drive back up to the villa and as we came up out of the fishing village and rounded the corner we saw for the first time the fires on the hillside and we realised they were actually really quite close now to our villa."

Driving back up the hill, the couple were stopped by a police and fire engine roadblock. Realising their passports and all their belongings were still inside the villa, they pleaded with officers for a brief window to retrieve them. Because the emergency services calculated the flames were still roughly 400 metres away, they allowed the parents through for just 10 minutes to pack up their belongings and go.

"We drove up and we reached a fire engine and police saying you can't go up any further. We told them that we've got all our stuff in there including our passports and they said can we can we get access for 10 minutes, pack up the house and then go and they allowed us to do that because it was a few hundred meters away from where our villa was.

"So my husband and I dashed back up to the villa, literally packed everybody's stuff up in the space of about 10 minutes, chucked it all in the car and then drove back down to where my daughter and her friend were and picked them up at the village we had dinner at and we followed the instructions at this point which was to go down to Kassiopi and just wait."

They were told that a local school had been opened where people could go and wait for updates, and they expected some level of organisation or facilities for those who had been forced to leave their holiday accommodation.

However, when they arrived, there was no sign of anything being open or properly set up, and all hotel rooms or alternative accommodation had already been booked and nothing was available, Rebecca said.

"It was boiling hot as you can imagine, we were sitting in the car just thinking what do we do now?"

Faced with spending a sweltering night trapped inside their rental car, the family was rescued by a chance encounter and the kindness of strangers. Her husband, Mat, spoke to a woman walking down the road who happened to be English but living on the island. After hearing their situation, she immediately offered to help, saying her brother-in-law had a house and she was sure they could stay there. She phoned him straight away, and he agreed.

"With the complete kindness of strangers," the family followed the man to his home. He was a restaurateur with a large house, and, she said, several of his staff who worked seasonal holiday jobs also ended up staying there that night. After just a couple of hours' sleep, the family awoke to the sound of helicopters thundering overhead at about 5am.

Fortunately, firefighters gradually brought the blaze under control and the family were allowed back later that day. Although the villa escaped damage, thousands of holidaymakers across the island were affected by the wildfires. Small fires continued for several days.

Rebecca said: "It was incredibly crazy, it was just a crazy few hours of no sleep, sleeping on a stranger's sofa just wondering whether or not our villa was going to be burned to the ground. Clearly it happens very regularly in this area but this was a lot worse and there were many holiday makers displaced."

Rebecca said she did not initially take the emergency warning seriously enough.

"If I got that alert again, I would absolutely pay attention straight away."

Luckily, they were able to return to the villa, which had escaped damage and they went on to enjoy the rest of their holiday. The ordeal did little to diminish their love of the Greek island. Despite the frightening experience, she said it has not put her and her family off from visiting.

"We've actually been back to Corfu every year since. It hasn't stopped us travelling. What it has done is make us think more carefully about where we're staying and making sure we always have transport if we need to leave quickly."

The extreme heat across Europe over the last few summers is playing out in people's holiday planning, according to new research from InsureandGo. Across the UK, Brits think a number of holiday hotspots will become too hot to visit in the next five years - including Turkey (26%), Greece (26%) and Spain (24%).

In addition, many people have concerns over the impact of rising sea levels, another impact of climate change. Nationally, 68% of UK adults think some popular holiday destinations may be underwater by 2050. Of those that specified a destination, Venice (29%), The Maldives (24%) Florida Keys (16%), The Seychelles (15%), The Bahamas (13%), New Orleans (10%), Bangkok (9%), Amsterdam (9%), Manilla (7%) and Thessaloniki, Greece (6%) emerged as the top 10.

Despite the increasing prevalence of extreme heat across Europe over the last few summers - with 22% saying they have experienced wildfires on holiday in recent years - the experience or risk of extreme heat has not deterred UK holidaymakers from wanting to enjoy a family break abroad this year. Nationally, 75% of UK adults told InsureandGo that they are planning a holiday abroad this year - and, even with the recent fuel shortages crisis, only 14% of UK holidaymakers expressed concern over the risk of flight cancellations this summer.

While the resolve to travel abroad remains strong, the InsureandGo data suggests that the timing of holidays and choice of destinations may change, with time, as a result of repeated summers of extreme heat. Nationally, 51% of UK adults said climate factors will result in them considering changes to their holiday plans in the next few years - either by choosing to visit cooler countries during peak summer season, or going on holiday at a different time of year - in the spring or early autumn.

Set against this, 38% of UK adults say they will not change their travel plans, continuing instead to visit their favourite destinations in the Med during peak summer season, even if there is extreme heat.

Garry Nelson, Head of Corporate Affairs at InsureandGo said: "Despite recent heatwaves and geo-political tensions, the UK Government has reassured travellers that there is currently no need to cancel or change holiday plans this summer. Our survey shows that demand for holidays abroad remains strong this summer.

"While successive summers of extreme heat and wildfires have presented challenges for many, our research suggests many people are adapting to the new normal of sizzling summers across Europe. Some are looking to change plans on where and when to go, whilst others are adapting and focusing on how to be safe in soaring temperatures. Wherever you are travelling, make sure you have sorted your travel insurance so that you can go without the doubt."

The research was carried out by UK Omnibus Group among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults in May 2026.