Sawt Falasteen - Heavy snow hits Turkey's northeast as wildfires rage

Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and intense extreme weather events, from droughts to heatwaves and hailstorms.

Temperatures plunged in mountainous areas inland from Rize, a town on Turkey's northeastern Black Sea coast about 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the border with Georgia.

Gencaga Karafazlioglu, a journalist in Rize, said he had never before seen snow in July.

"In Rize, we're used to weather anomalies. We've had snow several times in March but never this much. The older generation say they saw snow in July 30 or 40 years ago but never this much."

In Ovit Yaylasi, a plateau some 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) above sea level, fields were blanketed in white after snowfall, social media footage showed.

The snowfall covered an area stretching at least 100 kilometres, from Anzer Yaylasi through the Kackar Mountains National Park and beyond.

"The town of Artvin was the worst hit," Karafazlioglu said. Artvin is about 50km inland.

Elsewhere, firefighters battled at least 10 "major" forest fires on Friday, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told a press conference.

The minister said that wildfires in Izmir province, where two people died on Thursday and temperatures were forecast to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days, were now mainly under control.

He added that flames fanned by strong winds that threatened Mugla in the southwest of the country and Hatay in the south were still a concern.

Yumakli said there was an "intense struggle" to control the blaze in Hatay, which is near the border with Syria.

There had been 624 wildfires in the past week and that many had been caused by faulty electric cables, he added.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that 44 suspects had been arrested and 10 placed in detention over fires. He said that most were workers or farmers using machinery that had caused sparks.

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST