The day the sky burned: Apocalyptic scenes as European wildfires bathe countryside sickly orange, with blazes ravaging Portugal, Spain and Greece
One horrifying photo taken in the Sernancelhe district of Viseu, Portugal, shows a raging inferno and dark clouds of smoke threatening to completely submerge a house in flames.
The sky is completely amber as an angry blaze continues to tear its way through the forest, making the air thick with smog.
Nearly 4,000 firefighters are battling seven major fire across the country, in Tabuaço, Trancos, Sirarelhos, Sátão, Arganil, Vilarinho do Monte and Ermidas do Sado.
Authorities extended the state of alert until Sunday, amid high temperatures expected to last through the weekend.
'We are being cooked alive, this cannot continue,' said Vila Real Mayor Alexandre Favaios, where a fire had been burning for 10 days.
It comes as another heatwave pushes temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of Europe.
Global warming is giving the Mediterranean region hotter, drier summers, scientists say, with wildfires surging each year and sometimes whipping up into 'whirls'.
Firefighters in Spain and Greece continued to battle wildfires Friday on a public holiday in all three countries as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes.
Spain was fighting 14 major fires. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend.
'Today will once again be a very tough day, with an extreme risk of new fires,' Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X.
The national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in most of the country, including where the largest blazes were burning in the north and west. A heatwave which brought temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on several days this month was expected to last through Monday.
Fires in the Galicia region forced the closure of several highways. The high speed rail line connecting it to Spain's capital, Madrid, remained suspended.
The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares or 610 square miles, according to the European Union ´s European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London.
Spanish authorities reported the death of a 37-year-old volunteer firefighter who sustained severe burns in an area north of Madrid this week. It was the third reported death in Spain due to the recent fires.
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the region and still can not return.
Temperatures reached 44 C (111 F) in some regions, according to meteorology service AEMET, with minimal rainfall and windy conditions expected to exacerbate the fire risk.
In both Spain and Portugal it was the Feast of the Assumption, a major Catholic holiday usually marked by family gatherings and religious processions.
A wildfire in Greece burned out of control for a fourth day on the island of Chios, prompting several more overnight evacuations.
Two water-dropping planes and two helicopters were operating in the north of the island in the eastern Aegean Sea, where local authorities said a lull in high winds was helping firefighters early Friday.
Following a series of large fires in western Greece earlier this week, the Fire Service was on alert Friday outside Athens and nearby areas in the south of the country where adverse weather conditions elevated the fire risk.
The fire service said a major blaze outside the southern port city of Patras has been contained on the outskirts of urban areas after a large-scale deployment.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the fire, which authorities said may have been deliberately set.
A man also died in a fire in Albania, while a 61-year-old Hungarian seasonal worker is suspected to have died of heat-related causes while picking fruit in Lleida, in Spain's eastern Catalonia region.
The spiritual leader of the world´s Orthodox Christians Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expressed solidarity on Friday with the victims of wildfires in southern Europe during prayers for the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, an important religious holiday for Orthodox Christians.
A drop in wind speeds on Thursday allowed firefighting aircraft in the three hard-hit countries to step up water drops, concentrating on existing fire zones rather than chasing fast-moving fronts.
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