Twenty-five municipalities in five districts are at maximum fire risk

According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), this Friday, 25 municipalities in the districts of Faro, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Santarém and Viseu pose the highest risk of rural fires.

IPMA has also placed more than 60 municipalities in the districts of Faro, Beja, Santarem, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Leiria, Coimbra, Viseu, Guarda Vila Real, Braga, Aveiro and Bragança at very high risk.

Several municipalities in all areas of the mainland except Viana do Castelo are in high fire danger this Friday.

Due to weather conditions, the fire hazard will continue until at least Tuesday.

This risk, as defined by IPMA, has five levels, from reduced to maximum, and the calculations are based on air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and rainfall over the past 24 hours.

Since the beginning of the year, 4,703 fires have already affected 9,958 hectares of rural areas.

IPMA predicts spells of very cloudy skies for the continent this Friday, partly cloudy skies in the south, light rain or drizzle on the north and central coasts in the morning and showers in the north in the afternoon, and occasional strong winds in the coastal strip and highlands in the south.

The forecast also points to a slight drop in temperature in the eastern Algarve and low temperatures in the central region.

Minimum temperatures will range from 11 degrees Celsius (in Guarda) to 18 (in Lisbon and Faro), while maximum temperatures will range from 22 (in Porto) to 31 (in Castelo Branco, Évora and Faro).