A fierce wildfire that killed 64 people in Portugal over the weekend has been brought under control, officials have confirmed.

Police say a rare mix of low humidity, powerful winds and extremely high temperatures fanned the flames.

The fire, which erupted on Saturday and spread with breathtaking speed, is the country's deadliest natural disaster in decades.

Image: The wildfire is the biggest single blaze ever registered in Portugal

Although officials have said a dry lightning strike sparked the forest fire, the head of the nation's volunteer firefighters has said he suspects the blaze has "criminal origins".

Prime Minister Antonio Costa has demanded an explanation for what went wrong in the initial response by emergency services, amid reports that Portugal's plans for a fire of this scale had not been revised for four years.


Many of those who died perished on a single road as they tried to escape, with locals saying the highway should have been sealed off sooner.

Britons had narrow escape from Portugal blaze

A minute's silence was held for the victims on Wednesday, and the first funerals for those killed have already taken place.

Another serious fire continues to burn to the north of Pedrogao Grande, forcing the evacuation of several villages.

More than 40,000 hectares of Portuguese forest has been burnt - four times more than the average amount of land damaged by fire by this time of year in the country.

There are concerns that many more blazes could follow in July and August, months when the biggest fires traditionally strike.

British expats have described how they narrowly escaped the weekend's wildfire.

Image: More than 1,000 firefighters tackled the wildfire in Pedrogao Grande

Carolyn Morton, a sculptor from Wimbledon, said she and her friends had to run as the flames came down her driveway.

"We were really lucky," she said. "We could see the fire coming. The speed at which it came was horrendous and I think exacerbated in this area by the factory of wood up the road."

She said they headed towards a nearby village but there was no way out - until a Portuguese man welcomed them into a hamlet.

"The fire was all around us, there was no exit and we were saved by (firefighters) which managed to put the fire out around us," Ms Morton added.