Emergency services are under strain due to the ‘worst’ fires in Portugal in years, Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego says.

Six firefighters have died across Spain and Portugal as the Iberian peninsula grapples with devastating wildfires exacerbated by an enduring heatwave. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed across southern Europe in recent weeks to beat back a series of deadly blazes.

A man was killed while helping fight wildfires that have been scorching Portugal, the country's civil protection service has said, bringing the death toll from the fires to three.

A heatwave is continuing to affect the Iberian Peninsula. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to battle ongoing blazes and towns have been evacuated. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited affected regions to meet with the heads of emergency teams.

Wildfires have ravaged more than 450,000 hectares of land across the Iberian peninsula since the start of the year, setting records in a region particularly hard hit by intensive heatwaves and drought affecting southern Europe.

Cooler conditions are helping Spanish and Portuguese firefighters tackle deadly blazes that have forced tens of thousands of people to flee over the past two weeks.

Spain has sent 500 more troops to fight raging wildfires, bringing the total deployed to 1,900, as the death toll from the blazes has risen to four. On Sunday, a firefighter died after an accident during firefighting efforts when his truck fell down a steep hill,

Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years