A SWATHE of Spanish coastline has been placed under ‘extreme’ wildfire risk after a blaze forced evacuations in the region over the weekend.

Spain’s weather agency Aemet issued a red warning on Monday for Murcia’s western coastline and the Guadalentin River area, alongside orange alerts for Altiplano, Cuenca de Mula, Vega Alta-Ricote-Murcia and the northeast of the province.

The region’s eastern coastline was placed under a yellow alert.

The warnings come after a wildfire tore through 20 hectares of land along the Segura River on Saturday, prompting emergency services to evacuate a group of residents from their homes near La Arboleja.

READ MORE: WATCH: First major inferno of the year threatens homes in southern Spain – 200 soldiers and 70 trucks work overnight to save town

Around 30 firefighters and three helicopters battled the blaze for nearly 24 hours, with regional emergency services announcing it had been ‘brought under control’ at around 2.30pm on Sunday.

It was the second major wildfire to hit Murcia in less than three weeks, after flames ripped through 177 hectares of land in the El Valle Regional Park area earlier this month.

That fire burned for five days, with around 400 firefighters and several helicopters tackling the flames until they were finally extinguished on June 7.

Regional prosecutors have launched an investigation amid growing suspicions the blaze was deliberately started, sources have told this paper.

Wildfire risk across Spain is expected to remain elevated this week due to an intense heatwave, with Aemet forecasting temperatures of up to 44C in Andalucia’s Guadalquivir Valley on Wednesday.

Swathes of northern Spain, which typically enjoys much cooler weather than the rest of the country, are also set to experience unseasonably high temperatures, with peaks of 42C forecast along the eastern Cantabrian coast and the Ebro Valley.

READ MORE: Spain on red alert: ‘Danger to life’ warning issued for first heatwave of summer as intense African heat dome sends temperatures soaring above 42C

Aemet has issued red warnings for the provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country, where temperatures are expected to reach 40C between Monday and Wednesday.

The agency has also issued a series of orange and yellow alerts across much of the country, including wind warnings for parts of Andalucia and southern Spain.

All alerts will remain in place until at least Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to ease, Aemet said.

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