The European Commission is deploying firefighting aircraft to Spain, where at least seven have died as 14 wildfires have flared amid a European heat wave.

Spain’s Pedro Sanchez called for a nationwide pact uniting all levels of government to combat what he called an accelerating climate emergency as wildfires raged in several regions of the country.

Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in 20 years, with Spain among the hardest-hit countries. In the past week alone, fires there have claimed three lives and burned more than 115,000 hectares, while neighbouring Portugal also battles widespread blazes.

Fire crews in Greece, Spain, and Portugal are racing to contain wildfires. Calmer winds on Thursday have helped slow the blazes.

Spanish leader Pedro Sanchez promised on Sunday a "national pact" to deal with the climate emergency, as he visited a western region battling devastating wildfires."The government of Spain will work now so that in September we can have the bases of this national pact to mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency,

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has interrupted his summer holiday to visit regions hit hardest by severe wildfires in the country's north-west. Sánchez was due to travel on Sunday afternoon to the provinces of Ourense and León,

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.

A second volunteer firefighter has died after battling a wildfire in the northern Spanish province of Leon, while police arrested a man for allegedly starting a separate blaze as the country faced one of its worst summers for fires in 20 years.