Holiday hotspot ablaze: Tenerife wildfires rapidly spread

Officials in Tenerife are battling wildfires first ignited on Tuesday, which have now spread to over 6,400 acres in 24 hours.

Wildfires continue to spread in holiday hotspots this season. A blaze, which first ignited in the dry woodland of Mount Teide in the Candelaria municipality, has quickly spread overnight on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

At least 250 firefighters and military personnel have been deployed to try to control the outbreak, supported by 14 aircraft to tackle flames from above. Further support is expected to arrive from mainland Spain on Thursday.

Around 150 residents in villages around the mountainous, fire-hit region of Tenerife have been evacuated, while all public access to the mountains have been closed.

Prior to the ignition of the wildfire, Tenerife has been experiencing dry weather conditions with little rainfall and the arrival of a heatwave.

These combined to leave vegetation dry and primed to ignite as the flames spread.

Windier conditions are expected to return on Thursday, which can fan the spread of the fires. Earlier this year wildfires on La Palma and Gran Canaria, the other islands of the Canary Islands, were extinguished after similar scenes.

This is reminiscent of the situation seen in other tourist hotspots such as Maui and parts of Greece.

Fast spreading wildfires like these have been exacerbated by recent heatwaves made more likely by climate change.