THIS is the horrifying moment a fire tornado violently erupts in Portugal killing a mayor in its blaze.
It comes as hundreds of dangerous and deadly wildfires have plagued Europe in recent weeks with dozens of holiday hotspots left ravaged.
Portugal’s northern region of Aguiar de Beira was left burned on Friday as a fire tornado cascaded through the area.
This rare phenomenon is formed in intense heat when the air surrounding a fire begins to rotate into a vortex.
Terrifying footage shows the blaze powerfully spinning, sending bursts of fire flying.
Black smoke is seen filling the air as the sky shines a fluorescent orange from the gargantuan flames.
The video also captures stretches of land singed by the fire as locals run frantically to take cover.
Almost 4,000 firefighters have been deployed across different areas in the country with the government extending its high risk alert until Sunday.
In a tragic incident, Carlos Dâmaso, a former mayor of Vila Franca do Deão, lost his life while heroically combating a blaze. His remains were discovered on Friday.
Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Italy and Bulgaria are all still reeling from the deadly fires that have sprung up this summer.
Brits have been put on high alert over wildfires tearing through the popular holiday island of Tenerife in Spain.
Just a couple weeks ago, a fire sparked in the north and continued to spread towards busy resorts in Santiago del Teide.
Locals were ordered to evacuate the area and the island was put on red alert for the high risk of forest fires.
According to initial reports, the fire broke out in the Partidos de Franquis area, a rural location near San José de Los Llanos in El Tanque.
Authorities launched a substantial operation to manage the fire, deploying police, firefighters, island government units, the Civil Guard, helicopters, and water-spraying aircraft.
On the Portuguese-Spanish border, four Spanish planes aided over 250 Portuguese firefighters to tackle a mountain fire in the Viana do Castelo district.
DEADLY FIRES
The most deadly of the European fires have come from Turkey.
The apocalyptic wildfires have claimed at least 17 lives amid record-breaking 50C temperatures and fierce winds wreaking havoc across the eastern Mediterranean.
The infernos have forced more than 3,500 residents to flee their homes, with vast swathes of forest reduced to ash.
Ten rescue volunteers and forestry workers lost their lives in a blaze in Eskisehir last week, while four more died outside Bursa over the weekend.
Two volunteer firefighters succumbed to injuries after being pulled from an overturned water tanker.
Another worker died at the scene and a firefighter suffered a fatal heart attack on Sunday.
Turkey’s forestry minister, Ibrahim Yumakli, stated that crews managed at least 44 distinct fires on Sunday alone, with the western provinces of Izmir and Bilecik declared disaster zones.
