Thousands of firefighters are battling blazes in Portugal, Spain and southwestern France as a heatwave shows no sign of easing.

In northern Portugal, a pilot died when the bomber crashed in the Foz Coa area, near the Spanish border.

The fires are also destroying areas of the Gironde region of France, where more than 12,000 people have been evacuated, the

In southern Spain, near the Costa del Sol, about 2,300 people were forced to leave by the fire spreading in the Mijas hills.

Holidaymakers on the beach in Torremolinos saw huge plumes of smoke rising from the hills, where several planes were fighting the fire, reports the Telegraph.

🔥🔥Wildfires raging over Western Europe after scorching heatwaves.

This is the climate crisis👇👇pic.twitter.com/rc2VmwXtlZ

— Daniel Moser (@_dmoser) July 14, 2022

The fire south of Bordeaux has destroyed about 10 thousand hectares of land.

About 3,000 firefighters are fighting the blaze.

Since Tuesday, temperatures have soared to 47 degrees Celsius in Portugal and over 40 degrees Celsius in Spain, leaving the countryside parched and fueling fires.

More than 300 people have died from the heat in both countries, reports the Spanish news agency Efe.

Other parts of the Mediterranean are also affected.

In Italy, the government has declared a state of emergency in the parched Po valley – the country's longest river is no more than a trickle in some places.

In Greece, firefighters are battling flames in the Feriza area, about 50 km south-east of Athens and near Rethymno, on the northern coast of Crete.

Seven villages have been evacuated near Rethymno.

Wildfire in #Spain

🎥UME#Wildfire #ClimateCrisis #Spain #Fire pic.twitter.com/glkGLalegq

— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) July 16, 2022

In northern Morocco, several villages had to be evacuated as fires engulfed the provinces of Larache, Ouezzane, Taza and Tetouan.

A village was completely destroyed in the Ksar El Kebir area and at least one person died in a fire.

France has also experienced extreme heat of around 40C and expects more next week, with 16 departments on orange alert for severe weather.

Heat waves have become more frequent, more intense and last longer due to human-caused climate change.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1 degrees Celsius since the start of the industrial age, and temperatures will continue to rise unless governments around the world make big cuts in carbon emissions.

Morocco

Hundreds evacuated as wildfire spreads after burning more than 300 hectares of forest area near the city of #Larache in northwestern #Morocco.

pic.twitter.com/3MYm3yHrQu

— Amazigh World News ⵣ (@AmazighWNews) July 14, 2022

Large wildfire in Malaga Spain pic.twitter.com/UnLIb3iZGc

— 🥀_Imposter_🕸️ (@Imposter_Edits) July 15, 2022