A sustained heatwave with temperatures of around 40C (104F) has caused 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 said “it feels like a bomb has fallen” on the area.

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

Hundreds of firefighters, military and law enforcement personnel, and 30 aircraft, continued responding to the blaze.

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

The identification process has been slowed because collecting DNA samples from relatives has proved difficult, with family members traveling from other countries.

With at least 12 people dead, this is already among the deadliest wildfires 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 north-eastern Spain.

Wildfires have also plagued France over the summer months.

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

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

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

This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe’s water supply, and more intense wildfires.