The average maximum temperature settled at an unprecedented 30.78C this summer -- 2.09C higher than usual, and the highest figure since records began in 1931.

The summer months were also the driest since records began with just 24 percent of the normal rainfall during the 1991-2020 period, the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) said.

Portugal spent the summer battling three brutal heatwaves, with the latest lasting for 16 days from July 29 until August 17.

A total of 33 areas reached the maximum average temperature in June.

Mora, a municipality 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Lisbon, topped the chart with temperatures of 46.6C.

In August, fatal forest fires in the northern and central parts of the country killed four people, injured several more, devastated the local environment and ravaged 254,000 hectares (nearly 1,000 square miles) of land.

The extent of the damage made the fires the deadliest incident to occur since 2017 floods that killed hundreds of people, according to data from Portugal's Institute of Forests (ICNF).