Eight districts in mainland Portugal are on yellow alert due to the heat, the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) reported on Tuesday.
In a statement, the IPMA said the districts of Porto, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Lisbon, Leiria, Aveiro, Coimbra and Braga are on alert due to the “persistence of high maximum temperature values.”
HE yellow warning It will be in effect at least until 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
The yellow warning, the least serious on a scale of three, is issued whenever a risk situation arises for certain activities depending on the weather conditions.
IPMA predicts that, especially the North and Central regions, will remain under “Extremely high” weather severity until Wednesday, with the danger of rural fires at its highest to its highest.
“The meteorological severity will continue to be extremely high” on the 17th and 18th, in much of the territory, especially in the North and Central regionswhere the PIR [perigo de incêndio rural] will continue to be in the highest classes of danger: high, very high or maximum,” said the IPMA, in a note published on its website.
The statement, valid until 18:11 on Tuesday, states that the meteorological fire danger index calculated daily by the IPMA, which reflects the meteorological severity in the spread of rural fires, “has shown extreme values, demonstrating the adversity of current weather conditions.”
“In addition, the dryness index of dead fuels is very high, exceeding the average value for this season in much of the territory,” said the IPMA, reporting that The risk of rural fire was found in all municipalities of the continent“in the three highest danger classes” and “with 70% of municipalities in the very high and maximum classes” on Monday.
Since Saturday, the continent has been “under the influence of an easterly flow, which intensified” on Monday and “will remain intense” on Tuesday, “in the northern and central regions.”
“Relative humidity levels are extremely low, with levels of 10% or less even being recorded in places close to the coast, such as in the regions of Aveiro, Porto or Viana do Castelo,” revealed the IPMA.
For Tuesday, the institute predicts “a rotation of the wind towards the southern quadrant, blowing weakly or moderately, sometimes with gusts of around 60 km/h, and very low relative humidity values are still forecast for much of the territory.”
Source: Observadora
