Madeira in Maximum Fire Danger

The municipalities of Lagos, Portimão, Monchique, Silves, Loulé, São Brás de Alportel and Tavira, in the district of Faro, today present a maximum danger of rural fire, as well as some places on the island of Madeira, according to the IPMA.

More than 50 municipalities in the districts of Faro, Beja, Lisbon, Santarém, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Guarda, Bragança, Vila Real and Viseu are today in very high danger of fire, indicates the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA)

The IPMA has placed the south coast of Madeira in maximum danger of rural fire, which is under red warning, the most serious of a scale of three, until 20:00 today due to hot weather.

In a statement, the IPMA states that “the joint action of an anticyclone located northeast of the Azores archipelago, which extends in a ridge to the Bay of Biscay, and a low pressure valley located between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, allows the transport of a mass of hot and dry air to the archipelago of Madeira”.

If you see a fire report it immediately, the smallest fire can spread very fast especially with the wind.

Values ​​of around 30 degrees Celsius are expected over the next few days in the archipelago as a whole, which on the southern slopes can reach values ​​of around 35+ degrees.

This risk, determined by the IPMA, has five levels, ranging from reduced to maximum and calculations are obtained from air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and amount of precipitation in the last 24 hours.