A new fire has broken out on the Greek island Evia, just hours after fire officials said the blazes, which have ravaged the country for nearly two weeks, had been brought under control.  

Greece's fire department said it deployed firefighters and 10 vehicles to the south of the island, while four water-dumping planes and six helicopters attacked the blaze from overhead.

A larger fire ravaged north Evia over the past 10 days, burning at least 50,000 hectares of land.  

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the fires "the greatest ecological catastrophe" in decades. 

"The climate crisis is here, and it shows us that everything must now change, from the orientation of the economy to our national energy policy, from the functioning of the state to the daily habits of citizens," he said during a press briefing on Thursday.

Firefighters in Italy on Friday also struggled to contain multiple blazes, including a fire near a nature reserve outside Rome and in the beach village of Porto Badisco in the southern Puglia region.  

The region, stretching to Southern Italy, is in the midst of a blistering heatwave, aptly named "Lucifer." Authorities put 17 cities on red alert heading into the weekend, including the capital Rome and Sicily, which earlier this week hit 48.8 degrees Celsius. Scientists believe this could be the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe, although it still needs to be verified by the World Meteorological Organization.  

"We were going around sweating a lot," said Michael Kamtschatnyi, who was visiting the Colosseum in Rome. "It was just a challenge to keep us hydrated while looking at all these beautiful places around here."

Spain on Friday was also bracing for soaring temperatures. In Seville, Civil Protection and Police services handed water to passersby, urging them to be vigilant as temperatures climbed towards 46 degrees Celsius.  

"It is unbearable," said one Seville resident. "We are used to it in Andalusia but this is reaching a horrendous point. We don't manage to get any rest at night or during the day."

Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa put 14 of the country's 18 regions on fire alert, as hot winds threaten to spark blazes. He warned the next few days would be "difficult."

While Europe baked, Turkey cleared debris from the country's Black Sea region, where heavy rains earlier in the week triggered flooding and mudslides, leaving at least 27 dead.  

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the region a "disaster area" on Friday.