More than 100 wildfires are stretching thousands of firefighters to the limit in northern Portugal. The country’s worst spate of fires in recent years is blamed for seven deaths since they spread out of control over the weekend.

Nine aircraft were backing more than 700 firefighters combating flames near the town of Castro Daire in the district. Spain, Italy, France and Morocco have sent water-bombing aircraft. Data from the European Forest Fire Information Service showed that large-scale blazes had burned an area of more than 105,

At least seven people have died after wildfires in the Aveiro and Viseu areas of Portugal, although cooler weather has helped tackle the flames. Dozens of homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands of hectares of forest and scrubland have been lost to the flames.