Wildfires were burning in at least nine countries across the Mediterranean on Tuesday as blazes spread in Croatia, Italy and Portugal, with thousands of firefighters in Europe and north Africa working to contain flames stoked by high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds. At least 34 people were killed in Algeria, where 8,000 firefighters on Tuesday battled blazes across the tinder-dry north. Fires burned in a total of 15 provinces, leading to the evacuation of more than 1,500 people from their properties. Witnesses described fleeing walls of flames that raged “like a blowtorch”, destroying homes and coastal resorts and turning vast forest areas into blackened wastelands. …Wildfires also broke out in the woodlands of Latakia, a governorate on the Mediterranean in north-western Syria, and helicopters are being used to extinguish fires. …Italy has been hit by violent storms and wildfires. At least seven people were killed on Tuesday after storms in the north and wildfires in Sicily.