This is the gut-wrenching moment a British mother broke down in tears after inspecting the smouldering remains of her family's villa in Cyprus.

Lucy Armstrong, 37, and her husband Ben have told how they were forced to flee with their toddler as flames engulfed their villa during the raging wildfires that killed two people and destroyed swathes of homes.

The couple had been living in their dream home in the quiet village of Souni for four years.

They married last October and were settling into family life with their three-year-old son, Ethan. But this week, their entire world was turned upside down.

The blaze, which authorities believe may have been started deliberately, swept through the Limassol region with such terrifying speed that it left families scrambling to escape.