Spain on Thursday mourned its third wildfire death this week and Greece began beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city as an unrelenting heatwave stoked tinderbox conditions in southern Europe.

Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece battled ongoing wildfires Friday, an important religious holiday in all three countries, as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes.

Fire crews in Greece, Spain and Portugal are racing to contain wildfires, taking advantage of calmer winds that slowed the blazes’ advance. Much of southern Europe, however, remains at high risk under hot, dry conditions on Thursday.

All of Spain was on heatwave alert on Friday, while the weather agency warned that much of the country was at "very high to extreme risk" from wildfires.

Southern Europe reeled Thursday under an unrelenting heatwave that has stoked deadly wildfires from Spain to Greece, torching vast swaths of land,

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

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated travel guidance for people going to Spain, Portugal and Greece. Wildfires have raged across the three countries, which are all very popular destinations with UK holidaymakers.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, along with their teenage daughters, are reportedly taking a private family vacation in southern Greece, staying at the residence of another royal family.

The scale of this summer’s wildfires has prompted unprecedented requests for help from the European Union’s civil protection mechanism. Spain, for the first time, asked for firefighting aircraft from EU partners.

The UK's favourite holiday destinations are taking a hard stance on illegal tourist apartments in a bid to curb overtourism - Spain has joined Italy, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Greece in cracking down on unlicensed properties.