A former mayor in Portugal has died while battling wildfires that continue to sweep across southern Europe, also affecting Spain and Greece.
Officials said Carlos Damaso, the former mayor of Vila Franca do Deão in northeast Portugal, was reported missing while helping fight a blaze. His body was found on Friday.
Nearly 4,000 firefighters are now deployed across the country, and the government in Lisbon has joined Spain in requesting assistance from the European Union’s civil protection mechanism.
However, authorities in Portugal have warned they lack enough resources, while strong winds were causing blazes to spread across the country faster than firefighters could contain them.
Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, offered ‘heartfelt condolences’ to former mayor Damaso, and cut short a holiday to join emergency meetings this weekend.
Wildfires have burned across much of Europe in the last week. In Spain, blazes have burned 610 square miles so far this year – an area roughly the size of London.
There were 14 major fires burning in the country this weekend, with firefighters deployed on a public holiday on Friday as persistent heat and dry conditions made the spread ever more likely.
Spain’s national weather agency Aemet said temperatures had risen above 44C in several places on Saturday, warning of a very high risk of fires across ‘practically the entire country’.
France, Bulgaria, Albania and Montenegro have also suffered devastating fires so far amid heatwaves in August.
And in Greece, the popular tourist island of Chios saw villages evacuated after a wildfire burned for the fourth day despite water-dropping planes and helicopters trying to halt it.
While wildfires happen frequently across Europe over the summer, meteorologists say extreme weather which makes them more likely is becoming more frequent as a result of climate change.
According to EU data, about 6,290 square km (2,429 square miles) of land has burnt across the bloc since the beginning of the year.
And the Met Office said that even the UK is currently being affected as smoke carried over from the fires in Europe creates hazy conditions in parts of the country.
The weather agency said the conditions will lead to brighter sunsets, combining with Saharan dust that has blown towards the country this weekend.
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