One person has died as wildfires rage across large parts of Albania, the Defence Ministry in Tirana said on Wednesday. The victim was killed in the central town of Gramsh.

Wildfires continue to intensify across southern Europe with a round-the-clock battle to protect the perimeter of Greece's third-largest city and at least three deaths reported in Spain, Turkey and Albania.

PATRAS, Greece (Reuters) -Firefighters battled multiple wildfires across Greece on Wednesday, including blazes threatening villages and towns near the western city of Patras and on two tourist islands.

In Greece at Europe's southernmost tip, wildfires in some cases fanned by gale-force winds forced the evacuation of several villages and a hotel on the tourist islands of Zakynthos and Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea along with four other parts of the mainland.

A heatwave gripping parts of Europe sent temperatures over 40C in southern France and the Western Balkans on Monday, fuelling wildfires, triggering top-level weather alerts and forcing evacuations in several countries across what scientists warn is the world's fastest-warming continent.

Firefighters battling wildfires in Greece have spoken of their fears for the area due to intense drought and strong winds fanning the fires around popular holiday destinations. Emergency services are evacuating tourists and locals from areas being ravaged by the massive blazes around Zante,