Foreign Property News | Posted by Si Thu Aung
Wildfires continue to rip through Europe amid a 'suffocating' heatwave with temperatures already soaring to a sweltering 115F and expected to rise even further today.
Portugal has been hit by a series of blazes with some encroaching on the exclusive neighbourhood of Quinta do Lago where properties sell for between £1million and £9.5million, home to stars including Roman Abramovich, Duncan Bannatyne, John Terry and Steven Gerrard.
Footage shows swirling flames tearing
through the luxury resort, destroying golf courses as panicked tourists desperately tried to flee in their cars from the looming inferno. Thousands of firefighters and volunteers are battling blazes across the country with one devastated villager describing flames as 'looking like the devil'.
The blistering heat has caused similar fires to break out in Spain, France, Turkey and Croatia as Europe continues to suffer under the furnace-like heat dome blanketing the continent.
Spain's state meteorological agency AEMET said they expect today to be the hottest day so far of the heatwave, despite one unofficial street thermometer in Seville registering a staggering temperature of 120F.
Experts say the city will see official highs of 116F today, as firefighters continue to tackle blazes which have razed at least 3,500 acres in Extremadura.
Most of Spain was placed on high alert Wednesday, and AEMET said some regions were 'suffocating' - especially in the worst-affected Andalusia in the south, Extremadura in the southwest and Galicia in the northwest.
(PORTUGAL: A worker reacts as a forest fire hits the lumber factory where he works in Albergaria a Velha, Portugal, as wildfires devastate Europe)
(Portugal has been devastated by multiple blazes which have encroached on the exclusive neighbourhood of Quinta do Lago (pictured))
(Portugal has been devastated by multiple blazes which have encroached on the exclusive neighbourhood of Quinta do Lago (pictured))
(Fire burns near a swimming pool during a forest fire in the village of Lavradio, Ourem, in Portugal which is gripped by forest fires)
(A forest fire reaches an empty house in Bemposta after residents were forced to flee from the encroaching flames)
(A house and a carpentry company are left burnt and reduced to rubble after they were ravaged by fire in Pombal in Portugal)
(An Air Tractor AT-802F "Fire Boss" airplane takes part in firefighting operations at Gesteira de Baixo)
(FRANCE: Beach-goers bathe and lay at a beach of Pyla sur mer as a black cloud of smoke from a fire that hit La Teste-de-Buch forest rises from the Pyla Dune in the background)
(TURKEY: A firefighting helicopter carries water over a wildfire forest fire which broke out in the Datca district of Mugla)
(CROATIA: Fueled by strong winds, fires raged at Croatia's Adriatic Sea, with the most dramatic situation reported near the town of Sibenik)
(SPAIN: A thermometer displaying 49C (120F) is seen in an empty street during the second heatwave of the year, in Seville)
(The blistering heat has caused fires to break out in Spain, Portugal, France, Turkey and Croatia)
Across the border in Portugal, a number of 'infernal' wildfires have ravaged regions, destroying homes, businesses and golf courses. João Anastácio, 63, said he had to shut himself inside with a wet towel over his head as the blaze raged outside his home in Ansião
(Wildfires: The former Dragons Den star, 73, took to Twitter to tell his followers that he and his family were forced to leave their home after flames spread through the resort where he lives)
(A worker runs away when a forest fire that has hit the lumber factory where he works in Albergaria a Velha)
(Firefighters during a forest fire that has hit a timber factory in Portugal as wildfires sweep across the country)
(Thousands of firefighters battled more than 20 blazes that raged on Wednesday across Portugal and western Spain, menacing villages and disrupting tourists' holidays)
(A truck carrying water tanks drives by a forest fire as smoke darkens the sky in the village of Bemposta, near Ansiao, central Portugal)
(A woman runs in front of a gas station close to the forest fire in Palmela, Portugal, with the fire still burning today near a petrol station)
(In Portugal, a number of 'infernal' wildfires have ravaged regions, destroying homes, businesses and golf courses)
(Firefighters fight the flames near a house threatened by a fire in the Ludo area, Faro, Algarve, in the south of Portugal)
(A resident tries puts out a fire with a tree branch as his sees the forest lands surrounding his home burning in Portugal)
Ref: Flames like the devil': Wildfire rips through luxury Algarve golf resort with Duncan Bannatyne among those forced to flee their mansions as 'suffocating' 47C (116F) heatwave continues to rage across Europe (dailymail)