Thousands of firefighters in Spain and Portugal battled several wildfires Thursday ahead of an expected rise in temperatures that could worsen the situation on the Iberian Peninsula. In central Spain,

Spain's meteorology service AEMET predicted that temperatures in central and southern Spain could exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) by Sunday. In Portugal, temperatures are expected to rise Saturday into the upper 30s Celsius across most of the country.

Thousands of firefighters struggled to put out a dozen wildfires raging in northern Portugal and central Spain through the night and into Wednesday, in the largest wave of blazes in the Iberian Peninsula so far this year after weeks of summer heat.