Interior Minister Antonio Figueiredo Lopes said Portugal hoped European countries would lend airborne support to help the hundreds of firefighters struggling to contain the blazes amid a heatwave across the country.

Two people have been killed since the fires erupted last Sunday, engulfing large swathes of the country as it swelters under temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

"It is one of the most serious catastrophes in the past 20 years," said the minister, who visited one of the affected areas.

The situation deteriorated overnight around towns north and east of Lisbon, including Castelo Branco and Portalegre, where more than 1,200 firefighters were battling flames with the help of 400 troops, fire engines and helicopters.

Several roads were cut off by the flames on Saturday while the spa resort of Fadagosa was evacuated overnight after fire swept through buildings there.

Figueiredo Lopes said Italy would be sending two water-carrying planes on Saturday but noted that neighbouring Spain and France were having to deal with their own forest fires.

About one-third of Portugal is covered by forest and each year thousands of trees are lost to flames during the country's hot, dry summers.

There have been some 1,700 forest fires so far this year, destroying more than 26,000 hectares of brush and trees, according to forest service figures released Friday.

TERRA.WIRE