The IPMA foresees an increase in temperatures for the coming days, with temperatures above 30 degrees expected in some regions of the country.
The municipalities of São Brás de Alportel and Tavira are at maximum risk of rural fires today when temperatures are expected to reach above 30 degrees in some regions of the country.
The Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) has also placed the municipalities of Lagos, Portimão, Monchique, Silves, Loulé, Alcoutim and Castro Marim at very high risk of fires.
And more than 30 municipalities of the districts of Viseu, Guarda, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Santarém, Beja and Faro are at high risk of fires today.
For the coming days, the IPMA predicts an increase in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, with the risk of firesbetween “maximum and very high” in the Northern interior, Centre and the Algarve from Thursday.
On Tuesday, the IPMA indicated that the gradual temperature rise, especially the maximum values, is associated with “a mass of warm air, originating in North Africa, and transported in the circulation of an anticyclone located near the Iberian Peninsula,” which will progressively reach mainland Portugal in the coming days.
Thus, IPMA predicts that the highest temperatures will “most likely” occur on Thursday “in the interior of the southern region, the Ribatejo and the Beira Baixa, ranging between 33ºC and 35°C, and may very locally reach 37°C”.
Since the beginning of the year, 7,456 hectares in rural areas have been burnt in 2,202 forest fires, according to data from the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF).
The fire risk, determined by the IPMA, has five levels, ranging from low to maximum. The calculations are based onair temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and amount of precipitation in the last 24 hours.
Today, the IPMA forecasts hot weather on the continent with few clouds in the skies, with periods of sometimes very cloudy skies, generally weak wind and a slight rise in maximum temperature.
The minimum temperatures will range between 10 degrees Celsius (in Bragança) and 19 (in Faro), and the maximum between 21 (in Viana do Castelo) and 33 (in Beja).
