Fierce wildfires “with great potential” to sweep across villages are triggering mass evacuations on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife

Fierce wildfires “with enormous potential” to wipe out villages on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife have prompted mass evacuations from the area.

Five villages have now been evacuated as the fire continues to rage in a forested area in steep ravines in the northeast of the island.

The raging forest fires have destroyed 300 hectares of land in a natural park around Mount Teide, forcing hundreds of locals and tourists to flee.

Most of the wildfires are currently confined to Corona Forestral National Park, but officials have warned the blazes could spread further towards tourist hotspots like Puerto de la Cruz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife due to flammable pine trees in the area.

Firefighters try desperately to put out the flames with water, but the fire rages in a wooded area in steep ravines, making their task much more difficult.

“The fire is strong and in a complicated area,” Fernando Clavijo, regional president of the Canary Islands, said at a press conference in Tenerife. “Efforts are focused on preventing the fire from spreading and primarily affecting residential areas near the coast,” he added.

“This fire has enormous potential, we have asked for additional funding,” Rosa Davila, the president of Tenerife City Council, said on local radio. “It mainly affects the Corona Forestal (national park), there are a lot of pine trees and forests. “It's a steep area and planes are necessary.”

About ten helicopters dropped water, 150 firefighters and 50 military personnel worked to contain the wildfire, which authorities said could take more than a day to suppress.

The villages of Arrate, Chivisaya, Media Montaña, Ajafoña and Las Lagoontas were evacuated and local authorities said further action would be taken later in the day.

Several roads were also closed and officials warned the local community to remain vigilant after the fire broke out at 11.36pm last night.

davila All access to the island's mountains has been closed, he said, urging residents and visitors to stay away from the forested areas amid the risk of the fire spreading further.

“We do this to prevent incidents,” Davila said.

By early Wednesday, the fire had devastated about 130 hectares (320 acres) near Mount Teide, Spain's highest peak.

Within a few hours, the fire had spread to over 300 hectares and there were many subsequent fires, said Pedro Martinez, head of Tenerife's emergency services.

Last week, the Canary Islands were hit by a heatwave that left many areas completely dry and increased the risk of wildfires, emergency services warned.

This summer, firefighters have extinguished a series of forest fires on the islands of Gran Canaria and La Palma, which belong to the Canary archipelago.

According to Radio Canarias, Tenerife's two airports were operating normally, citing Spanish airport operator Aena.

Wildfires have devastated countries across southern Europe this summer, forcing thousands to evacuate and thousands more to cancel their holidays.

Today's Tenerife wildfire comes a day after another blaze devastated homes and holiday campsites in a British tourist hotspot in France, forcing the evacuation of 3,000 people.

The raging forest fires devastated 500 hectares of land and caused thousands of frightened tourists to flee for their lives from their holiday homes and campsites in the popular holiday region of Pyrénées-Orientales in southern France.

Britons have told how panicked families who had quickly packed their belongings and fled campsites in the parish of Saint-Andre in their cars were stuck in traffic after realizing they were indeed facing the fast-spreading flames heading for the wildfire.

Zak Dhabalia, 55, a retired British hedge fund manager who lives in the nearby village of Sorede and saw the flames get dangerously close to his home, said it was an “extraordinary and terrifying experience for all of us”.

Dhabalia, who lives with his French wife Sylvie Dhabalia, told MailOnline it was “terrifying” to see how quickly the wildfire spread across the vineyards towards the campsites destroyed by the flames, adding that he was at the site could hear gas canisters exploding.

Harrowing photos show the extent of the damage caused by the wildfires. The ruined remains of houses can be seen in Saint-Andre. Cars were burned and a campground was destroyed by the fire.

The Pyrénées-Orientales region bordering Spain has been hit harder than any other French region by a devastating drought.

Last week, firefighters battled another wildfire near the southwestern city of Bordeaux, forcing around 8,000 people to flee their homes and holiday villas.

Authorities in Spain's northern Basque country said France had blocked lorries from crossing the border at Irun because of the fire.

Elsewhere in Europe, Greece, Italy, Algeria and Tunisia collectively lost more than 1,350 square kilometers (520 sq mi) to fires that the European Union estimated had affected 120,000 people at the end of July.

Wildfires raged across Portugal and neighboring Spain last week as temperatures soared to over 44C and thousands of holidaymakers were evacuated from villages and campsites.

The popular holiday island of Rhodes – known for its glittering beech trees and ancient Greek sites – was also battered by 11 days of wildfires last month.

After thousands of people were evacuated at the height of the tourist season, Rhodes is weighing how the crisis will affect its vital tourism sector, which powers most of its economy and about 20 percent of Greece's economy.

The same applies to other Mediterranean destinations such as Italy and Spain, where the tourism sector has also been affected by heat waves and forest fires.

Climate scientists say heat waves are more intense, more frequent and longer due to climate change – and combined with droughts, fighting wildfires has become more difficult.

They say climate change will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

“Climate change kills,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez last month during a visit to the Extremadura region, which has been hit by three major fires. “It kills people, it kills our ecosystems and biodiversity.”

Wildfires in Europe this summer have burned the second largest area on record, according to data from the European Union's Joint Research Centre, even though the region is only in the middle of its typical wildfire season.

Southern European countries like Portugal and Greece experience fires most summers, but higher temperatures are shifting the risk of severe wildfires north, with Germany, Slovenia and the Czech Republic being particularly hard-hit this season.

In stark contrast to the wildfires in France, Spain, Greece, Croatia and southern Italy in recent weeks, northern Italy and Scandinavia have been hit by devastating floods and storms.

In the Italian town of Bardonecchia near Turin in the Val di Susa valley, a “tsunami of mud” erupted through the streets on Sunday, forcing people fleeing for their lives.

Dramatic video shows the churning mud flow forming a giant wave as it bursts its banks and crashes into a road after heavy rain.

Terrified residents and tourists alike ran for their lives when the “mud tsunami” smashed through a gate and hurled debris at them on Sunday night.

Another video shows a thick wall of mud thundering over the riverbanks that flow through the Alpine town, blanketing cars in debris.

Rescuers frantically searched for five people believed to be missing after the mudslide, but authorities later said all residents had been counted and there were no casualties.

Italy has faced a series of deadly floods and storms in recent months. In May, 13 people died after devastating floods destroyed homes in the popular holiday region of Emilia-Romagna.

Desperate families, including young children and the elderly, had to climb to their rooftops in the tourist hotspot and anxiously waited for rescuers to come to them by helicopter.

In the town of Cesena, locals had to swim through the flooded streets, past sunken cars and floating furniture, to reach higher ground.

Severe storms also raged in northern Italy last month, killing two women and a 16-year-old girl scout.

During the night storm on July 25, roofs were torn off in Milan and hundreds of trees were uprooted. Roads were blocked and cars were crushed by the debris.

In the northern provinces of Monza and Brescia, two women have died after being crushed by falling trees, while a teenager in the Veneto region was seriously injured when he was hit by a falling tree branch.

According to Italian news agencies, a 16-year-old girl was killed in a scout camp in the area around nearby Brescia when a tree fell on her tent.

Firefighters evacuated the other camp members and took them to a nearby gym, ANSA said.

Tourist attractions also suffered the most from the bad weather, as Sforzesco Castle was closed after some bricks were ripped off and rain was heavy enough to seep into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan's famous glass-domed shopping arcade.

Elsewhere in Europe, a tornado traveling at 135 miles per hour overturned a construction crane in Switzerland last month, killing one person and ripping off roofs from buildings. Storms also hit France and Germany, with torrential rain flooding the streets of Berlin.

And last week, heavy rains across southern Norway and Sweden triggered landslides and flooding, forcing communities to evacuate.

The Norwegian dam at Braskereidfoss hydroelectric power station on the Glåma, Norway's longest and highest-volume river, burst on Wednesday after days of rain.

It caused devastating floods, with footage showing wooden shacks floating across overflowing rivers. A clip shows a mobile home crashing into a bridge on Norway's Hemsilar River.

People stood on the bridge and watched as caravans were swept away, crashing into the bridge and being crushed under the load.