Firefighters, helicopters battle wildfires across Italy

Firefighters battled blazes in central and northern Italy as a dangerous heatwave continued to leave areas across the country scorched by wildfires.

While Italy's south has been particularly hard hit by the fires, three crews worked to control flames raging in the countryside on Friday between the towns of Taurasi and Lapio, in the central Campania region.

Firefighters on the ground were assisted by two helicopters dropping water from above.

Also on Friday, a Canadair plane supported fire teams in extinguishing a blaze near Longano, Molise region.

The northern region of Emilia-Romagna was also affected on Saturday, with six crews working against a wildfire near Sogliano al Rubicone.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, over one third of the forest burnt in Europe this year was in Italy, amounting to 358,024 acres, followed by Greece with 116,365 acres.

Italy put 16 cities on red alert for health risks this week due to high temperatures, including Sicily surpassing 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit).

Climate scientists say there is little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving extreme events, such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods and storms.