Baiao, Portugal: The fires in the north are Portugal's worst since 2017

Thousands of firefighters are continuing to battle wildfires in Portugal, Spain and France, as a heatwave shows no sign of easing.

In northern Portugal, a pilot died when his waterbombing plane crashed in the Foz Coa area, near the Spanish border.

The Portuguese authorities say at least 238 people have died from the heat over the past week.

Fires are ravaging areas of France's south-western Gironde region, where over 12,000 people have been evacuated.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change. The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to carbon emissions.

The French weather service has forecast temperatures of up to 41 degrees in parts of the country's south on Sunday and new heat records are predicted for Monday. 

Late on Saturday the country placed 22 more regional departments mostly along its Atlantic coast on high orange alert.

One resident in south-west France described the forest fires as feeling "post-apocalyptic" - "I've never seen this before," Karyn, who lives near Teste-de-Buch, told news agency AFP.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said fires had so far burned 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of land and praised firefighters' "remarkable courage".

Manon Jacquart was evacuated on Wednesday and slept in a shelter

Christophe Nader and his son-in-law spoke to the BBC at a shelter near Teste-de-Buch, having been forced to abandoned their house in the village of Cazaux with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing. He told the BBC he hoped to get back there to rescue their cat. Hundreds of people from the danger zone were at the temporary shelter, which has provided beds.

"Everything went so fast - the fire too, was big, big, big," Manon Jacquart, 27, told the BBC. She was evacuated from the campsite she works at early on Wednesday morning, and slept at a shelter near La Teste-de-Buch, on France's west coast.

"I'm just worried, I'm afraid… I'm trying to be as strong as I can but I'm not ok… I want to forget this week," she said.

Meanwhile in the Alps climbers are being urged to postpone their trips to Mont Blanc due to the risk of rock falls caused by "exceptional climatic conditions".

Since Tuesday, temperatures have soared to 47C in Portugal and above 40C in Spain, leaving the countryside bone dry and fuelling the fires. 

Portuguese weather forecasters say temperatures will continue hovering above 40C before dropping next week.