The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) has placed 12 of mainland Portugal's 18 districts under red warning (the most severe level on the scale, which signals an "extreme weather risk situation"), from Thursday and at least until Saturday, due to the forecast of hot weather with "persistently extremely high maximum and minimum temperatures".
The red warning for heat will be extended from this Thursday to Beja, Évora, Portalegre and Santarém, in addition to Lisbon and Setúbal, and on Friday it will also cover Aveiro, Braga, Porto and Viana do Castelo, as well as Coimbra and Leiria.
The remaining six mainland districts, namely Bragança, Castelo Branco, Faro, Guarda, Vila Real and Viseu, will be under orange warning (the second most severe level on the scale, which signals a "moderate to high weather risk situation"), between Thursday and Saturday, according to IPMA.
The earlier weather forecasts, released on Wednesday, had placed only the districts of Lisbon and Setúbal under red warning because of the heat from Thursday, with Coimbra and Leiria joining them on Friday.
In a statement, IPMA says that a "prolonged spell of very hot, dry weather" is expected, with maximum temperatures reaching between 35 and 41°C across most of the territory, and between 41 and 44°C in the Tagus Valley and Alentejo.
