THIS is the moment a brazen arsonist starts a terrifying wildfire by fanning the flames to help them spread faster.

Hundreds of dangerous and deadly fires have plagued Europe in recent weeks with dozens of holiday hotspots left ravaged.

Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Italy and Bulgaria are all still reeling from the deadly fires crashing along the Mediterranean.

Shocking CCTV footage from a quiet road in Bulgaria has now revealed the moment one of the 160 fires battering the country started.

A 33-year-old man can be seen setting fire to several patches of grass which sit next to a pavement as he and his friend walk past.

He casually walks off pretending nothing has happened as the flames begin to grow higher.

Moments later, he returns and can be seen trying to fan the flames with his hands so they spread quicker up the hill.

Authorities have managed to track down the arsonist and charged him with terrorism.

Several other people have been arrested over similar offences in recent days.

Sabotage has become a rife issue in southern Europe since a heatwave hit earlier this month.

In Bulgaria alone, around 90 per cent of the blazes have been caused by human error and negligence, according to Miroslav Rashkov, the head of the interior ministry.

Footage has already caught several suspects across the continent.

CCTV in Turkey caught a man suspiciously carrying bottles filled with water before emptying them and refilling them with petrol at a gas station.

The suspect was later found by police with burns on his arms and legs after a fire in the village of Kismanlar.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even claimed 96 per cent of the fires were caused by human activity such as cigarette butts and picnic fires.

He announced in a live TV broadcast: “Let us not forget that this is a war, a defence of our green homeland, against this insidious enemy.”

Spain and Portugal

Brits have been put on high alert over wildfires tearing through the popular holiday island of Tenerife in Spain.

A fire sparked in the north and has continued to spread towards busy resorts in Santiago del Teide in recent hours.

Locals have already been ordered to evacuate in the Valle de Arriba area with around 50 homes told to leave.

Tenerife has been on red alert for the high risk of forest fires after the soaring temperatures hit 36 degrees.

The first fire started at around 2pm on Monday.

Initial reports indicated that the fire was located in the area known as Partidos de Franquis – a rural site near San José de Los Llanos in El Tanque.

A major operation was launched to control the fire, both by land and air, with police, firefighters, island government teams, the Civil Guard, helicopters and water-spraying planes all involved.

President of Tenerife’s government, Rosa Davila said conditions were “complicated” due to the extreme heat and high winds.

The Iberian Peninsula is also bracing for further issues in the coming days.

Four Spanish planes joined more than 250 Portuguese firefighters battling a mountain blaze in Viana do Castelo district on the Portuguese-Spanish border.

The flames were spreading in two directions and were being pulled around by strong winds, civil protection chief Marco Domingues said.

Large swaths of northern and southern Portugal are now on the highest alert for wildfires.

Turkey

The most deadly of the European fires have come from Turkey.

At least 17 people have been killed in the apocalyptic wildfires as record-breaking 50C heat and howling winds fuel devastation across the eastern Mediterranean.

The infernos have forced more than 3,500 residents to flee their homes, with vast swathes of forest reduced to ash.

Ten rescue volunteers and forestry workers lost their lives in a blaze in Eskisehir last week, while four more died outside Bursa over the weekend.

Two volunteer firefighters succumbed to injuries after being pulled from an overturned water tanker.

Another worker died at the scene and a firefighter suffered a fatal heart attack on Sunday.

Turkey’s forestry minister Ibrahim Yumakli confirmed that crews battled at least 44 separate fires on Sunday alone, declaring the western provinces of Izmir and Bilecik disaster areas.

Firefighters have battled more than 600 blazes in the past week, with over 1,900 emergency responders drafted in to help save trapped residents.

According to forecasts, the temperatures will remain fiery this week with 45C to 50C heat expected in southeast Turkey.

Greece

Holidaymakers are also being urged to take caution when travelling in Greece this month.

A week-long heatwave peaking at 45C has sparked multiple wildfires, forcing mass evacuations near Athens and across the islands of Crete and Evia.

A huge blaze scorched a northern suburb of the Greek capital over the weekend, with 115 firefighters and 24 vehicles deployed on Evia, backed by six planes and seven helicopters.

Some 1,500 people were evacuated after raging wildfires spread across Crete earlier this month.

The night sky turned orange as the burning blazes left a trail of destruction on the popular island.

Evacuations were ordered at three sites outside the port of Ierapetra on the island’s south coast, authorities said.

Homes were reportedly damaged as flames swept through hillside forests, fanned by strong winds.

Wildfires, many of them destructive, have become a common occurrence in Greece .

Greece sits n an area dubbed “a wildfire hotspot”, with blazes common during hot and dry summers.

Cyprus

Meanwhile, Cyprus is still battling what officials have branded its worst wildfires “for 50 years”.

A massive wildfire killed two people as it ripped through forests outside Cyprus’s second city of Limassol.

With temperatures soaring to 44C, dozens of homes have been destroyed in the Troodos mountains.

Brit couple Lucy and Ben Armstrong were among those left homeless.

Ben told The Sun: “We lost everything that day, there’s nothing left.

“We had fish tanks in the house and there was absolutely nothing left of what was in the water except melted glass on the floor.”

Two people were found dead in a burnt-out car as more than 70 houses were reduced to rubble.

Italy

Meanwhile, in Sardinia, Italy, tourists were sent running for their lives when flames ripped right down to the beach at Punta Molentis on the island’s southeast coast.

Sunbathers abandoned their towels and spades as thick black smoke engulfed the shoreline.

The coast guard evacuated 102 people by sea, while helicopters hovered overhead during the dramatic operation.

Some 200 cars and a kiosk were torched as the blaze tore through the Sarrabus area — described by local media as a “jewel” now reduced to cinders.

Footage showed burnt-out vehicles after flames ravaged the parking area, leaving many stranded.

Fire crews deployed two Canadair firefighting planes, a helicopter, regional aircraft, and even an Italian Air Force vehicle to contain the inferno as winds fanned the flames.