TUESDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER 1730 HRS
NOTE: This has now been EXTENDED TO 23.59 HRS 10TH SEPTEMBER
The National Civil Protection Authority have declared a RED ALERT (the highest level) in the north and centre of the country due to the risk of fire.
The affected 13 districts are: Aveiro, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Santarém, Coimbra, Guarda, Portalegre, Porto, Vila Real, Viana do Castelo, Viseu and Leiria.
ANEPC decided to keep the orange alert, the second highest of the scale, for Beja and Faro, which was already in effect for these districts, and to raise from yellow to orange the alert for Lisbon, Évora and Setúbal, between Wednesday and Sunday. .
Also present at the press conference, ANEPC president Mourato Nunes stressed the importance of everyone being aware of the risk of forest fires, noting that “there are only fires if there are ignitions”.
“There needs to be a great deal of discipline to avoid unnecessary fires,” he said, ensuring the device was set up for rapid and effective intervention, but admitted the occurrence of imponderables and uncontrollable fires.
The envisaged plan consists of 11,492 field operations, supported by 60 air assets, and a reconnaissance helicopter is also available.
At the press conference, Nuno Moreira, from the Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), warned that the coming days will have very high temperatures, reaching 40 degrees in the southern and Tagus Valley regions and being over 30 degrees in the rest of the territory.
It is also expected very hot nights in Lisbon and Tagus Valley, never falling below 20 degrees and very low relative humidity values, particularly on the coast, which is not usual.
Strong wind is still expected, especially in the mountainous regions and in the center and north of the country.