The municipalities of São Brás de Alportel and Tavira present today a maximum danger of rural fire, when temperatures above 30 degrees are expected in some regions of the country.
The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) also placed the municipalities of Lagos, Portimão, Monchique, Silves, Loulé, Alcoutim and Castro Marim (Faro) in very high danger of fire.
More than 30 municipalities in the districts of Viseu, Guarda, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Santarém, Beja and Faro are now in high danger of fire.
The IPMA predicts for the next few days a rise in temperatures with values above 30 degrees Celsius, with the risk of fire being between “maximum and very high” in the interior North, Center and Algarve from Thursday.
On Tuesday, in a statement, the IPMA indicated that the gradual rise in temperature, in particular the maximum values, is associated with “a warm air mass, originating in North Africa, and transported in the circulation of an anticyclone located near to the Iberian Peninsula”, which will progressively reach mainland Portugal in the coming days.
Thus, the IPMA predicts that the highest values of the maximum temperature will occur “very likely” on Thursday “in the interior of the South region, Ribatejo and Beira Baixa, ranging between 33 and 35°C, and may very locally reach 37°C” .
Since the beginning of the year there have been 2.202 forest fires and 7.456 hectares of rural areas have burned, according to data from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).
The fire hazard, determined by the IPMA, has five levels, ranging from reduced to maximum.
Calculations are obtained from air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and amount of precipitation in the last 24 hours.
The IPMA predicts for today on the continent warm weather with slightly cloudy skies, sometimes very cloudy with high clouds, generally weak wind and a slight rise in maximum temperature.
The minimum temperatures will fluctuate between 10 degrees Celsius (in Bragança) and 19 (in Faro) and the maximum between 21 (in Viana do Castelo) and 33 (in Beja).
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