According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), this Wednesday, 23 municipalities in the districts of Faro, Portalegre, Castelo Branco and Santarém pose the highest risk of rural fires.
About 50 other municipalities in Faro, Beja, Lisbon, Coimbra, Leiria, Santarem, Viseu, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Guarda, Aveiro, Vila Real and Bragança pose a very high fire risk.
IPMA has also placed several municipalities in all areas of the mainland except Porto and Viana do Castelo in a high fire risk group.
The fire danger defined by IPMA has five levels, from minimum to maximum.
Calculations are made based on air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and precipitation over the past 24 hours.
The Institute foresees, at least until Sunday, a worsening risk of fires in rural areas.
Since the beginning of the year, 2591 fires have already affected 7671 hectares of rural areas.
IPMA predicts cloudy skies for the continent for this Wednesday, with periods of more cloudiness due to high cloudiness in the northern and central regions, cooler temperatures, especially in the northern and central regions, and a sharp nighttime cooling.
Light to moderate winds are also expected from the north/northwest, with moderate to strong winds gusting up to 75 kilometers per hour on the west coast, western Algarve and highlands.
Due to strong winds, IPMA placed the areas of Leiria, Lisbon, Setubal, Beja and Faro under a yellow alert this Wednesday due to strong winds forecast from 12:00 this Wednesday to 22:00 Friday.
On Thursday, a yellow warning for strong winds applies to the areas of Coimbra, Aveiro, Porto, Braga and Viana do Castelo.
The notice for these counties will be in effect from 12:00 Thursday to 22:00 Friday.
IPMA predicts that the minimum temperatures on the continent will fluctuate between 6 degrees Celsius (in Bragança) and 17 (in Faro), and the maximum between 19 (in Guarda and Porto) and 31 (in Faro).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.