The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) announced that depression Bram, named by the Irish Meteorological Service, has formed in the western Atlantic and is moving east towards the Azores archipelago, before continuing towards Ireland.
This depression is associated with a moderate to strong cold front, which will gradually move across the mainland starting from the afternoon of the 9th (today), from the northwest to the southeast, reaching the southern region only during the night/morning of the 10th (Wednesday).
Due to this situation, persistent and occasionally heavy rain will occur across most of the mainland, starting this morning in the regions of Minho and Douro Litoral, and gradually extending to other regions.
Additionally, this episode will be accompanied by strong winds from the south in the western coastal areas and the highlands until mid-afternoon today, with gusts ranging between 70 and 90 kilometers per hour (km/h), especially in the North and Center regions.
Notably, a similar maritime agitation to recent days, influenced by depressions in the North Atlantic moving east/northeast, will continue along the western coast until the morning of the 10th (Wednesday), with wave heights west/northwest expected to reach 4 to 5.5 meters, temporarily west/southwest to the north of the Douro river mouth.
The IPMA stated that this depression also brings a humid tropical air mass, rich in water vapor, affecting the Madeira archipelago starting late today with persistent and sometimes heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms.
Moderate to strong southwesterly winds with gusts up to 70 km/h, reaching 85 km/h in the highlands, are expected, gradually shifting to the north in the afternoon and weakening. Strong maritime agitation is projected until the end of today, with wave heights west/northwest reaching 4 to 4.5 meters.
Due to the sea conditions, the IPMA issued orange warnings for the districts of Porto, Viana do Castelo, and Braga until 3:00 PM today, which will then downgrade to yellow until 6:00 AM on Wednesday.
Yellow warnings for maritime agitation also apply to the districts of Faro, Setúbal, Lisbon, Leiria, Beja, Coimbra, and Aveiro until 6:00 AM on Wednesday.
Yellow warnings for rain are also in effect for the districts of Viseu, Évora, Porto, Faro, Vila Real, Setúbal, Santarém, Viana do Castelo, Lisbon, Leiria, Beja, Castelo Branco, Aveiro, Coimbra, Portalegre, and Braga until the end of the day.
Porto, Viana do Castelo, Lisbon, Leiria, Aveiro, Coimbra, and Braga are under yellow warnings due to strong wind forecasts with gusts up to 80 km/h until 3:00 PM today.
For the Madeira archipelago, the IPMA issued an orange warning for heavy rain on the southern coast and mountainous regions of the island of Madeira until 12:00 PM today, downgrading to yellow until 3:00 PM, and for the northern coast and Porto Santo.
The northern coast of Madeira remains under a yellow warning due to maritime agitation until 12:00 AM on Wednesday.
Concerning the Azores archipelago, the IPMA placed the western group (Flores and Corvo) under a yellow warning for maritime agitation until 12:00 PM today.
The orange warning is issued by the IPMA when there is a “moderate to high risk meteorological situation,” while yellow indicates a “risk for certain dependent activities” on weather conditions.
