Portugal IPMA extends yellow heat warning to nearly all mainland districts Sunday; 60 municipalities at maximum fire risk
Portugal's IPMA extended yellow heat warnings to nearly all mainland districts for Sunday 16 August, while around 60 municipalities face maximum rural fire danger on Friday.
Friday warnings in force
The Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) kept four mainland districts under yellow heat warnings through Friday 14 August. Bragança and Vila Real in the north, and Guarda and Castelo Branco in the centre, remained under the warning until 18:00. The same yellow warning was active until 18:00 for the North and South coasts of Madeira and for the island of Porto Santo. The yellow level is the lowest of a three-tier scale and signals risk for activities dependent on weather conditions.
Sunday expansion
IPMA announced that the yellow warning will extend to nearly all mainland regions on Sunday 16 August. Bragança and Vila Real stay under the warning until 00:00 on Monday 17 August. Guarda and Castelo Branco return to yellow from 09:00 on Sunday until midnight. The same Sunday window applies to 13 additional districts: Viseu, Évora, Porto, Setúbal, Santarém, Viana do Castelo, Lisboa, Leiria, Beja, Aveiro, Coimbra, Portalegre and Braga. Only the district of Faro on the mainland escapes any weather risk warning.
- Yellow heat warning active in Bragança, Vila Real, Guarda and Castelo Branco until 18:00; also Madeira coasts and Porto Santo
- Warning returns for Guarda and Castelo Branco and extends to 13 more districts including Porto, Lisboa, Braga and Évora
- Warning expires for Bragança and Vila Real; remaining districts' warnings end at midnight
Temperatures across the country
Forecast maximum temperatures for Friday ranged from 25°C in Porto and Aveiro to 39°C in Évora, the hottest city cited. Bragança was forecast at 38°C, Faro at 33°C and Lisboa at 32°C. Minimum temperatures varied between 17°C in Braga, Viana do Castelo and Évora, and 21°C in Faro and Portalegre. In the Madeira archipelago, Funchal was expected to reach 29°C and Porto Santo 28°C. IPMA forecast partly cloudy or clear skies on the mainland, with periods of greater cloud cover on the western coast until mid-morning and a small drop in maximum temperature.
- Évora
- 39 °C
- Bragança
- 38 °C
- Faro
- 33 °C
- Lisboa
- 32 °C
- Funchal
- 29 °C
- Porto Santo
- 28 °C
- Porto
- 25 °C
- Aveiro
- 25 °C
Rural fire danger
About 60 municipalities in the districts of Bragança, Guarda, Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Santarém and Faro were at maximum fire danger on Friday. IPMA placed more than 60 interior municipalities at very high danger, plus six coastal municipalities in the districts of Faro and Leiria. A high danger level covers much of the Alentejo and around 50 other municipalities across districts including Viana do Castelo, Braga, Vila Real, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Viseu, Leiria, Lisboa, Setúbal and Faro. The rural fire danger index has five levels, from reduced to maximum, and is calculated from air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and precipitation in the previous 24 hours.
Additional forecast details
IPMA forecast the possibility of scattered showers and thunderstorms in the interior North and Centre during Friday afternoon, more likely in the northernmost mountain ranges. Wind could blow strongly at times along the western coastal strip and in highland areas. For Madeira, the institute predicted periods of very cloudy skies with generally weak showers, especially on the north slope and highlands of Madeira island, along with a small drop in maximum temperature.
