Around 50 firefighters from Finland are headed to Greece to help the country fight wildfires amid scorching hot weather.

The first group of approximately two dozen firefighters departs on Monday and are scheduled to stay in the Peloponnese region for two weeks. Then, a second similar-sized team of rescue workers will replace the first one.

Firefighters from around the country are taking part in the effort, from regions including Kymenlaakso, southern and northern Savo, as well as southern and northern Karelia. The Finnish teams are being led by the rescue services department in eastern Uusimaa.

There have been recent reports of wildfires in many parts of Greece recently.

The manual labour involved in fighting wildfires is heavy in itself, but the hot weather in Greece - as well as the burden of wearing heavy protective gear like gloves, boots and a helmet, not to mention the 12-hour-shifts - add to the strain of the job, according to Petri Lyttinen, executive fire officer from Eastern Uusimaa rescue services.

40-45 degrees Celsius weather

"At worst, it's above 40 degrees [Celsius], up to 45 degrees in Greece during August. Greece's dry conditions, terrain, vegetation and trees differ from Finland's, so anyone can see how difficult the work will be," Lyttinen, who is scheduled to leave with the second Finnish team of firefighters in mid-August, explained.

Nearly 130,000 hectares of land burned in Greece's wildfires last summer. In order to prevent a similar disaster, the country called out for international assistance, according to Lyttinen.

A number of other European countries have responded to the request for help. Firefighters from Norway and Bulgaria are joining ones from Finland in August, while rescue workers from France, Romania and Germany came to Greece's aid in July.

The Finnish teams will also learn about how to deal with wildfires, which could also break out in Finland, according to eastern Uusimaa rescue director Peter Johansson.