Three people are reported to have died and hundreds of people have been moved from their homes as wildfires on the Portuguese island of Madeira menace the capital Funchal.

Two people have been seriously hurt, according to reports.

Several buildings have been destroyed and smoke from the fires has disrupted flights at the airport.

Images from Reuters showed clouds of black smoke and fires moving towards people's homes in Funchal.

The fires have been burning for two days and have also affected the Portuguese mainland.

According to Portugal's National Authority for Civil Protection there are 12 major wildfires, most of them in the country's northwest.

Madeira has been experiencing high temperatures this summer.