The fires have ravaged small, sparsely populated towns in the country's northwest, forcing locals in many cases to act as firefighters. About 2,382 square miles have burned across Spain and Portugal.

This year is turning into one of the worst fire seasons in recent memory in Europe. Firefighters are struggling to contain out-of-control wildfires in western Spain and Portugal.

The northern regions of mainland Portugal are once again under a red heat alert. From 10 August, temperatures may rise again in the country.

Spain was fighting 14 major fires, according to Virginia Barcones, general director of emergency services. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend.

Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.

LISBON: The fires raging across Portugal claimed their first victim Friday (Aug 15), when the former mayor of the eastern town of Guarda died fighting fires there, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced.

Two firefighters have died across Spain and Portugal as the Iberian peninsula grapples with devastating wildfires exacerbated by an enduring heatwave. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed

Firefighters battle raging wildfires in Portugal and Bulgaria, while Finland braces for damaging storms - Anadolu Ajansı