Friday, the suffocating heat wave continued for the fifth consecutive day in southwestern Europe, as the countries of the region witnessed a record rise in temperatures and the outbreak of devastating forest fires that forced thousands to evacuate their homes.

Large groups of firefighters battled wildfires in France, Portugal and Spain, while Britain braced for severe weather in the coming days, and even in Ireland, weather forecasters predicted summer temperatures similar to the Mediterranean.

The heat wave that is sweeping large areas of southwestern Europe is the second within weeks, which scientists attribute to climate change, which is expected to cause more severe weather phenomena.

In Portugal, Friday, the authorities raised the alert level to red in five regions in the center and north, and almost the entire country remained under warning of the outbreak of forest fires, with more than 2,000 firefighters fighting four fires.

Late Thursday, the Portuguese authorities announced the death of one person, the injury of sixty, and the evacuation of about 900 people from their homes due to the fires.

The fires have destroyed 30,000 hectares of land this year, the most affected area since the 2017 fires that killed 100 people.

Right on the Spanish border, a fire broke out Thursday near Montfrag National Park, a nature reserve famous for its wildlife.

The Extremadura region where the park is located has seen fires that destroyed thousands of hectares this week.

In southwestern France, the flames have destroyed about 7,300 hectares since Tuesday and forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes, many of them vacationers who decided to cut short their vacation instead of staying in temporary shelters set up by local authorities.

A fire broke out in a pine forest near Don de Pilate, home to the tallest sand dunes in Europe and a magnet for tourists.

"I've never seen anything like this before and I feel like it's the end of the world," said Karen, who lives in the area before the preventive eviction order was issued for her village.

No one was injured in the fires, which were not put out on Friday. "The fires are still out of control and unfortunately there are winds again," firefighter spokesman Mathieu Gumaine told AFP.

- Record numbers-

On Thursday, Portugal recorded the highest temperature in July, reaching 47 degrees Celsius. In central Spain, the temperature reached 45.5 degrees, slightly lower than the record previously set in August last year.

On Friday, meteorologists expected the temperature to exceed 41 degrees in parts of Portugal and 44 in other parts of Spain.

Temperatures in southern France are expected to touch 40 degrees Celsius on Friday, and may exceed that early next week.

On Friday, the British Met Office announced the first "red" warning of exceptional temperatures, and expected them to reach record levels next week.

It added that there is a 50 percent chance that temperatures will reach 40 degrees for the first time on Monday or Tuesday, and there is an 80 percent chance that they will exceed the previous record in the country of 38.7 degrees that was set in 2019.

"The nights are also likely to be exceptionally warm, especially in the cities," said Paul Gundersen, chief expert at the agency.

A red alert is issued when it is "highly likely that there will be a danger to people's lives, with significant disruption to travel and energy supplies and possibly extensive damage to property and infrastructure."

UK hospitals have already warned of an increase in temperature-related admissions, and train operators have told passengers to expect flight cancellations.

Met Ireland also issued a national weather warning for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with "exceptionally warm" weather forecast and daytime temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius.

Belgian authorities said they are also expecting much higher temperatures next week, with a possible high of 38C in some parts of the country on Tuesday.

Scientists considered that there is no doubt that heat waves are caused by global warming, and may recur regularly.

"Climate change is driving this heat wave, just as it is driving every heat wave now," said Fredericke Otto, a lecturer at Imperial College London.

"Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil are making heat waves hotter, longer and more frequent," she added.