According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), which has placed eight areas under yellow warning, more than 40 municipalities are currently at maximum fire risk due to the hot weather that will continue this week.
More than 40 municipalities in the districts of Santarem, Faro, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Guarda, Viseu and Bragança are at the highest risk of fire.
The highest maximum temperature forecast for today will be reached in Evora with 38 degrees Celsius, followed by Beja, Faro and Castelo Branco with 37, Portalegre with 36 and Bragança with 34.
IPMA has also placed several municipalities in all districts of mainland Portugal at very high fire risk.
IPMA estimates that fire danger will persist in some areas until at least Saturday.
Madeira also has a maximum, very high and high fire risk, depending on the region.
This risk, defined by IPMA, has five levels, from low to maximum. The calculations are based on air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and the amount of precipitation over the past 24 hours.
Due to the heat, IPMA has issued a yellow warning for the districts of Bragança, Évora, Guarda, Faro, Setúbal, Beja, Castelo Branco and Portalegre until 6:00 pm on Wednesday.
The Madeira archipelago is also under an orange alert until 6pm today, and will turn yellow until 6pm on Tuesday due to hot weather.
An orange warning is issued by IPMA whenever a “moderate to high risk meteorological situation” occurs, and a yellow warning when there is a risk situation for certain activities depending on the meteorological situation.
IPMA forecasts today for the continent partly cloudy to clear skies, with occasional clouds on the coast, winds sometimes strong from the north in the western coastal strip and in the highlands, and fog or morning mist in some places in the western coastal strip.
Minimum temperatures will range from 15 degrees (in Braga and Viana do Castelo) to 24 (in Faro), and maximum temperatures from 24 (in Aveiro) to 38 (in Evora).
The Madeira archipelago is expected to be very cloudy, with light rain possible on the northern slopes and in the highlands until early morning.
Light to moderate winds from the north/northeast are also expected, with moderate to strong winds gusting to 70 km/h (43 mph) at times in the highlands and in the extreme east and west of Madeira Island.
In Funchal, temperatures will range from 23 to 29 degrees, and in Porto Santo from 22 to 27 degrees.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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