Tonnes of fish and hundreds of farm animals are dying every day in the south of Portugal, where the worst drought in 60 years shows no sign of abating. It has already cost Portuguese farmers at least one billion euros. Below-average rainfall for nine months has left 97 per cent of the country suffering.

The fish here are at the edge of a dam that supplies water to a small city close to the Algarve. However water quality is not affected. Wildlife officer Joao Nunes explained the reason for all the dead fish is the lack of water in the reservoir. "The fish are swimming close to the surface," he said. "But the water temperature there is above 40 degrees Celsius which kills them." Meanwhile, at least four fires are still raging in the north of the country although the majority are now under control.

Some 30,000 hectares of scrubland and forest have been destroyed since the beginning of the year in more than 2,500 fires, which have cost the lives of two firefighters.

PHOTO CAPTION

A dead fish is seen here in June 2005. (AFP)