Responses were awaited from other EU member states.

The request was sent via the European civil protection mechanism - a fund to which that EU member states contribute to ensure that they can seek help in case of need, for example fires, floods and earthquakes.

More than 1,700 fire fighters were at 12.30pm on Wednesday battling 13 major forest fires in mainland Portugal, while in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, local teams and reinforcements sent from Lisbon continued to try to put out various blazes.

The fires have already claimed three lives in Funchal, and hundreds of people have been evacuated and dozens of homes destroyed.