Fires are not uncommon in June in Portugal, and they can be extremely dangerous. We must remember those of Pedragão Grande 3 years ago who had claimed the lives of dozens of people. Today the IPMA (Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere) has put 4 municipalities of Algarve on maximum alert for fire risk, the highest level on the alert scale set up by the Portuguese authorities. The trend will worsen over the weekend with 7 Algarve municipalities on maximum fire alert, and the entire region at least at high risk. The Portuguese authorities call for the greatest caution. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about this maximum fire risk alert.
Algarve on maximum alert for fire risk until Tuesday
According to the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), the municipalities of São Brás de Alportel, Tavira, Alcoutim and Castro Marim, in the district of Faro, in the Algarve, today present a maximum risk alert of fire. Also in the Faro district, IPMA also placed the municipalities of Vila do Bispo, Portimão, Silves and Loulé at very high risk of fire.
The municipalities of Almodôvar, Mértola (Beja), Abrantes, Ferreira do Zêzere, Sardoal, Mação (Santarém), Vila de Rei, Proença-a-Nova, Vila Velha de Ródão (Castelo Branco) are at “high” risk of fire.
The IPMA has also placed several municipalities in the districts of Santarém, Bragança and Guarda on very high fire alert, but it is the Algarve that concentrates the majority of concerns.
Also according to the IPMA the risk of fire will remain very high in several municipalities of the continent at least until Tuesday. The most dangerous day will be Sunday, with as many as 7 municipalities in the Algarve on high alert for fire risk, and the entire region will be at least alert for "high risk".
This fire risk scale determined by the IPMA has five levels, ranging from “reduced risk” to “maximum risk”. Calculations are obtained from forecasts of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and amount of precipitation in the past 24 hours.
Fire risk map for Sunday June 21 - © IPMA
The IPMA forecasts today a cloudy or clear sky over the continent, and a moderate to strong wind with sometimes with gusts of up to 60 kilometers per hour in the western coastal strip south of Cabo Carvoeiro, especially during in the afternoon, and in the highlands of the central and southern regions, which will fuel the potential for fires.
The minimum temperatures on the continent will vary between 8 degrees Celsius (in Guarda, Viseu and Vila Real) and 15 (Faro and Lisbon) and the maximum between 20 (in Aveiro, Porto and Viana do Castelo) and 29 (in Faro and Évora) .
