Nearly 1,000 firefighters were battling a wildfire in southern Portugal today that has been raging for four days, scorching thousands of hectares and forcing the evacuation of around 1,400 people.
The wildfire started on Saturday in the municipality of Odemira, in the Alentejo region, but has since spread south towards the Algarve, one of Portugal's top tourist destinations.
High temperatures and strong winds have hampered efforts by the firefighters and six water-dousing planes to extinguish the flames, which have destroyed some 7,000 hectares, including large areas of highly flammable pine and eucalyptus trees.
Jose Ribeiro, regional commander of the emergency and civil protection authority (ANPC), said weather conditions were expected to remain challenging.
Shortly before sunset yesterday, the sky in Odemira turned dark as a huge smoke cloud filled the air.
Odemira's mayor, Helder Guerreiro, called the situation "critical, difficult and complex", while Mr Ribeiro said the perimeter of the fire had been contained for now but there was still work ahead to bring it under control.
"It is a worrying situation," Mr Ribeiro told reporters today, adding there were two active fronts, with one heading to Monchique, a lush green mountainous area in the Algarve's countryside.
Andre Fernandes, ANPC's national commander, said bulldozers were being used to build fire breaks and prevent the blaze from spreading further.
Monchique, which last burned in 2018, is popular among locals and tourists due to its thermal springs and hotels.
Around 20 villages, one of them in Monchique, four tourist accommodations and a camping site have been evacuated as a precaution. Several roads have also been blocked off.
There are currently several wildfires burning across Portugal but Odemira is the most worrying, Mr Fernandes said.
This summer most southern European countries have been grappling with record-breaking temperatures during the peak tourist season, prompting authorities to warn of health risks.
Scientists say heat waves are becoming more frequent, intense and spread out across seasons due to climate change.
Read more: EU climate observatory says July hottest month on record
Three districts in northern Portugal were placed under red alert today.
Temperatures were expected to hit 41C in the northern city of Castelo Branco.
Authorities say more than 120 Portuguese municipalities, including in Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve, are at maximum risk of wildfires.
"The weather conditions we are going to experience in the coming days means any small occurrence (fire) could become a big one," Civil Protection secretary of state Patricia Gaspar told a news conference.
Much of southern Spain on orange alert today
Weather warnings remain in place in both Portugal and Spain with much of the southern half of Spain is on orange alert today.
The Spanish met office (AEMET) issued maximum red alerts for parts of Andalusia in the south, the Madrid region in the centre and the Basque country in the far north.
More than 1,000 hectares of land were destroyed by flames in Spain over the weekend.
A fourth large wildfire broke out yesterday in Estremadura, central Spain, near the border with Portugal.
Firefighters were unable to contain it overnight.
In total, wildfires have destroyed 100,000 hectares of land across the Iberian Peninsula this year, according to preliminary estimates. This is on top of the record 400,000 hectares destroyed last year.
