Twenty-six boroughs in Portugal – five of them in the Algarve – are facing a “maximum” risk of wildfires today (July 13), according to the national sea and atmosphere institute (IPMA).
The list includes Loulé, São Brás de Alportel, Tavira, Castro Marim and Alcoutim (Algarve); Gavião, Marvão and Nisa (Portalegre); Abrantes, Mação and Ferreira do Zêzere (Santarém); and Vila Velha de Ródão, Proença-a-Nova, Vila de Rei, Sertã, Oleiros and Penamacor (Castelo Branco).
In the north, the fire risk is extreme in Sabugal, Guarda, Celorico da Beira, Pinhel and Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo (Guarda) and in Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Torre de Moncorvo, Mogadouro and Alfândega da Fé (Bragança).
IPMA calculates fire risks by assessing air temperature, humidity, precipitation levels and wind speed.
National civil protection authority (ANPC) had already warned that the risk of fires in Portugal is going to “increase significantly” due to a “gradual increase of maximum temperatures until Saturday” and a “reduction of air humidity”.
Temperatures are due to reach maximums of 44ºC in the Alentejo, 42ºC in Castelo Branco, 37ºC in the Algarve, 33ºC in Lisbon and 27ºC in Porto.
