Several major wildfires are burning across Portugal and north-eastern Spain, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes as a punishing heatwave sends temperatures above 40°C across the Iberian peninsula. Local authorities report injuries but no confirmed deaths as of Saturday.

In Portugal, emergency services said more than 120 active blazes were recorded, with the most severe in the central-northern district of Viseu, where a fire that ignited on Wednesday has consumed an estimated 10,000 hectares of forest and farmland. Roughly 1,100 firefighters, backed by 380 vehicles and eight water-bombing aircraft, were deployed to that single front, while nationwide mobilisation reached close to 3,000 personnel. At least nine people have been injured, two seriously, the civil protection authority said. The government declared a state of alert across the mainland, banning access to forests and suspending the use of fireworks and agricultural burning. Portugal requested assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and from bilateral partners, with Spain sending a military emergency unit and both Morocco and Spain dispatching Canadair planes.

In Catalonia, a wildfire that broke out on Friday near the coastal town of La Bisbal d’Emporda, a popular tourist area, had burned through 2,200 hectares. Catalan fire services reported that by Saturday they had stabilised around 70% of the right flank, but cautioned that a forecast midday shift in wind direction remained a threat. No injuries were reported, though roughly 150 people, including 70 children at a holiday camp, were evacuated from seven localities. Some 400 firefighters and ten aerial units were tackling the blaze, and authorities said the probable cause was negligence.

The exceptional heat – the national weather institute IPMA said Thursday was Portugal’s hottest day of the year, with temperatures reaching 43.9°C – has placed 13 of the country’s 18 districts under red alert, the maximum level. Neighbouring Spain saw records tumble last summer, when wildfires destroyed 393,000 hectares and killed eight people; scientists attribute the rising intensity and frequency of such events to climate change. Firefighting efforts continued overnight into Sunday, with authorities warning that the hot, dry weather was unlikely to break in the immediate future.