The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) has placed nearly all the municipalities in the 18 districts of mainland Portugal under a very high and elevated risk level.
The institute’s calculations indicate that the danger of rural fires will remain elevated in some districts over the coming days.
This risk level, determined by the IPMA, consists of five categories ranging from reduced to maximum. The calculations are based on air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and the amount of precipitation in the past 24 hours.
According to the website of the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), since the beginning of the year up to today, there have been 2,672 fire incidents, burning 6,359 hectares in rural areas.
Due to the continued hot weather, the districts of Viseu, Porto, Santarém, Viana do Castelo, and Braga are under a yellow warning until 6 p.m. today, while Bragança, Évora, Guarda, Vila Real, Beja, Castelo Branco, and Portalegre will remain under warning until 9 p.m. on Friday.
The yellow warning, the least severe, is issued by the IPMA when there is a risk situation for specific activities that depend on weather conditions.
