A sustained heatwave with temperatures around 40°C (104°F) has sparked wildfires across southern Europe this summer, particularly in France, Portugal and Spain.

On Friday, Los Gallardos mayor Francisco Miguel Reyes told Spanish radio station Cadena SER that “it feels like a bomb has fallen” in the area.

“This is the first time we have faced a fire as devastating as this.”

Hundreds of firefighters, military and police personnel, and 30 aircraft continued to respond to the fire.

Forensic scientists in Madrid are using samples from the victims’ bodies and DNA samples from the families of the missing to try to identify the dead.

The identification process has been slowed down because it has been difficult to collect DNA samples from relatives, as relatives travel from other countries.

With at least 12 people dead, this is already among the deadliest forest fires in Spanish history.

In 1984, 20 people died in a fire on the Canary island of La Gomera, while in 1979, 21 people, including nine children, died in a forest fire near Lloret de Mar in northeastern Spain.

Forest fires have also ravaged France during the summer months.

On Monday, more than 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes in the foothills of the French Pyrenees.

French authorities said on Saturday that 32 people had been arrested on suspicion of starting the fires.

Climate change is raising temperatures around the world, and Europe is the fastest warming continent, warming twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.

This is leading to an increase in summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe’s water supply and more intense wildfires.