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Wildfire forces evacuations on Tenerife

As many as 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes due to wildfire raging on Tenerife.

Popular tourist areas on the island have been unaffected and its two airports have been operating normally.

However, local reports say the blaze broke out on Wednesday amid unseasonably hot temperatures in an area in the northeast of the island that was struck by a large wildfire in August.

Firefighters supported by six water-dropping helicopters are flighting the blaze. 

Some 2,400 people were moved from the town of Santa Ursula, and another 600 from La Orotava, as a precaution, according to Lope Afonso, vice president of the regional government of Tenerife.

The fire comes as Tenerife and neighbouring Gran Canaria are under a heat alert, with temperatures soaring above 30C across much of the island, levels normally seen during the height of summer.

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