In photos: Wildfires rage across northern Morocco and southern Europe

Swaths of the Mediterranean region were ablaze this week as extreme heat swept Europe and North Africa. Firefighters sought Friday to contain three wildfires in northern Morocco that left at least one dead. Fires scorched pine forests in France’s Bordeaux region. Thousands of firefighters in Portugal fought four infernos, with five regions in the country’s center and north on red alert Friday because of extremely hot weather. In Spain, 20 fires blazed out of control.

It’s yet another blistering summer in the region, and the heat-fueled fires are swallowing forests, displacing residents and posing serious environmental and health risks.

Wildfires in Morocco this week engulfed pine forests and killed at least one person, the Associated Press reported, as temperatures reached above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Emergency responders flew 20 aerial sorties to try to put out the fires in the province of Tétouan, where more than 200 local residents were evacuated, Moroccan news outlet Yabilaadi reported.

Farther south, in the Ouezzane region, firefighters were still struggling to get fires under control. In the Larache area along the country’s northeastern coast, more than 1,000 families had to evacuate because of two fires that have since been extinguished, according to AP. More than 2,000 acres of land were destroyed, and many homes were damaged.

The heat in Portugal broke records this week, with thermometers reading up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The scorching temperatures mark the latest in several regional heat events exacerbated by human-induced climate change. The hot weather this spring and summer has left the ground and vegetation dry — and easier to ignite.

The wildfires in Portugal are concentrated in the country’s north. Fires have destroyed 75,000 acres of land this year, the BBC reported — the largest area ravaged by fires in five years there. A pilot dropping water over the fires died when his plane crashed near Portugal’s border with Spain.

About 3,000 people fled an area in southern Spain where wildfire was spreading in the Mijas hills, AP reported. Authorities continued to use planes and helicopters to battle the flames. Separately, residents from eight villages were evacuated Friday as firefighters battled a blaze started by a lightning strike in the western Las Hurdes region.

“Very attentive to the evolution of the active fires that have motivated the evacuation of several localities and affected areas of great natural wealth,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez tweeted Friday. “Let’s be careful. We are at an extreme level of risk in the face of high temperatures.”

The Bordeaux region of France, famous for its wine, is also grappling with major forest fires. Regional authorities in Gironde, the administrative region encompassing Bordeaux, said more than 1,200 firefighters are fighting two fires that took off in the area on Tuesday. The fires had destroyed nearly 25,000 acres of forest in the region and caused more than 12,000 people to be evacuated as of midday Saturday.

Regional prosecutors suspect arson caused the fire in the town of Landiras, close to a valley of Bordeaux vineyards, according to the AP.

Greece sent firefighting equipment to help. “Solidarity is European,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in Greek on Saturday. “A year ago, when Greece was facing terrible fires, we mobilized as Europeans. Yesterday, Greek firefighting aircraft arrived in the south of France to support the work of our firefighters.”

For France, the worst of the heat still lies ahead, with some weather models predicting temperatures near 116 degrees. Météo-France, the country’s weather service, tweeted that the country could see one of its hottest-ever days Monday.

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Text by Claire Parker and Matthew Cappucci; photo editing and production by Kenneth Dickerman