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Today, police officers in Portugal continued to scour scrubland and abandoned buildings on the second day of the latest searches for missing Madeleine McCann.

Officers were seen clearing vegetation around abandoned buildings, wearing protective gear such as hard hats and face masks, and a digger was used to move rubble.

They are working in fields and scrubland between a main road and the sea, with a few buildings nearby, including a vineyard.

The search is being carried out at the request of the German federal police, as they look for evidence that could implicate prime suspect Christian B, who is in prison for raping a 72-year old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.

He is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann are not commenting during the "active police investigation", staff at the Find Madeleine Campaign said.

Our correspondent Dan Whitehead has been at the scene of the search on the outskirts of Praia da Luz and watching the scenes unfold.

You can scroll back through the page for all the updates from today.

Our correspondent Dan Whitehead, who is in Praia da Luz, says police activity has moved. 

"The focus yesterday for police was on disused farm buildings, close to where the prime suspect Christian B lived.

"It's clear that the activity has moved elsewhere at the moment."

He says the ground is hard and dense, and that poses a challenge for officers.

"German police are leading this investigation because of that prime suspect Christian B," he adds.

"He denies all involvement."

Christian B is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of an elderly woman in the same resort Madeleine disappeared from two years later.

He was arrested in Italy in 2018 and is due to be released from prison in September.

He has not been formally indicted or charged with any offence related to the McCann case and denies any involvement.

But in 2022, Portuguese police named him an 'arguido' in their investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, which makes him a formal suspect and gives him the right to silence and appropriate legal representation.

He moved to Portugal in 1995 after serving a two-year prison sentence in Germany for sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl in 1994. He lived in a cottage in Praia da Luz.

Soon after the world's media descended on the resort in 2007, he moved back to Germany.

Police have previously claimed he made a 30-minute call from the same area just an hour before Madeleine disappeared.

He is alleged to have confessed on two occasions to kidnapping and sexually abusing the toddler - once to a friend in a German bar in 2017 and again to his prison cellmate in 2020.

There was no suggestion in either alleged confession that he killed her, and he continues to deny any involvement.

German police were last in Portugal on the McCann case in 2023.

They spent a week searching the Barragem do Arade reservoir around 30 miles from Praia da Luz, after reports of a "tip-off".

The search was requested by the German authorities who in 2020 named convicted sex offender, Christian B, the prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance.

While he has always denied any involvement, it's reported he liked to visit this reservoir, calling the area his "paradise."

Investigators are continuing to scour scrubland and abandoned buildings in the second day of the latest searches for missing Madeleine McCann.

Teams of German and Portuguese police officers, as well as firefighters, face the task of hunting for evidence 18 years on from the disappearance of the British three-year-old in 2007.

This week's operation is focusing on a sparsely developed area of land around 3.5 miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was last seen while on holiday with her parents and siblings.

Here, Sky correspondent Alice Porter takes a look at what we know after the initial searches this week...

Parked vans and police officers remain in Atalaia, Sky News' Dan Whitehead reports.

Search teams have begun clearing the surrounding areas of more abandoned structures as part of the investigation.

Officers can also be seen using hedge trimmers around more run-down buildings in the same scrubland area on the outskirts of Lagos.

Kate and Gerry McCann will not be releasing any statements during this "active police investigation", according to staff at the Find Madeleine Campaign.

We last heard from the girl's parents last month, on the 18th anniversary of her disappearance.

"No matter how near or far she is, she continues to be right here with us, every day, but especially on her special day," they said ahead of her 22nd birthday.

"We continue to 'celebrate' her as the very beautiful and unique person she is.

"We miss her."

Investigators continue to search derelict buildings in Atalaia today.

These images show how it looks inside, with the ground cleared of rocks and debris.

Searches for Madeleine McCann have resumed in Portugal, near where she was last seen in 2007.

Madeleine, then aged three, vanished while on holiday with her family in the Algarve resort, after her parents went out to dinner and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.

What prompted this new search is still unclear.

But the authorities are likely to be searching for a body - or any sign that Madeleine McCann was taken to the area they are searching after she was abducted.

Here is a look at the key dates since the disappearance of Madeleine...

Our team is by the coast in Atalaia, where officers are still searching for evidence.

We can hear digging from inside this abandoned building, pictured below, continuing yesterday's work around ruins and wells.

A police drone is flying overheard, while officers can be seen throwing rocks out from inside the structure.