Wildfires in Europe caused by extreme heat

Wildfires have affected various parts of Europe due to recent heatwaves

Residents and holidaymakers in parts of France, Spain and Portugal have been forced to leave their towns and villages due to wildfires.

The fires are the result of an extreme heatwave and with some fires burning for several weeks.

More than 12,000 people have left France's Gironde region in south west over recent days, as more than 1,000 firefighters try to bring the fires under control, according to the regional authorities of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde.

"Given the weather conditions and the important risks of fires starting, the authorities have temporarily blocked access to the forested area for professional and leisure activities," the authorities said in a statement.

The fires around the town of Teste-de-Buch in the Gironde have now stabilised, having swept through more than 3,000 hectares of land since the beginning of the crisis.

However, in nearby Landiras, where 6,500 hectares have been burnt and 2,200 people evacuated from the town, the fires continued to spread because of strong winds.

The French weather service has forecast temperatures of up to 41 degrees in parts of the country's south on Sunday and new heat records are predicted for Monday.

Firefighters have been trying to bring blazes under control in France

Since Tuesday, temperatures have soared to 47C in Portugal and above 40C in Spain, which has left the countryside dry - fuelling the fires.

Around 2,300 people had to leave parts of southern Spain due to fires spreading in the Mijas hills.

Spain has also been impacted by fires

The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted he was "closely following the evolution of active fires" posing an "extreme risk".

Portugal has also been impacted by the fires. Five regions in both the nation's centre and north were on red alert on Friday as more than 2,000 firefighters tackled four major blazes.

Wildfires in the country have destroyed 30,000 hectares of land this year - the largest area since the summer of 2017.

Portuguese weather forecasters say temperatures will remain above 40C before dropping next week.

Other countries in Europe including Italy and Greece have also been experiencing wildfires and Morocco in Northern Africa has seen several villages evacuated due to blazes spreading.

What's caused the fires?

Temperatures have soared to 47C in Portugal in the last week

It's not known how the wildfires started but most wildfires are caused by human activity such as bonfires or barbecues.

But the fires spread faster and further during hot and dry periods of weather.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense, and are lasting longer because of climate change caused by human activities.

Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and experts warn temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make big cuts to carbon emissions.