“(The rain] should begin in the north and centre of the country in the early hours of Tuesday and then spread inwards and southwards as the day goes by, but it should not last too long”, the weather agency said.

This is going to be the first real rain for several months and should help extinguish the wild fires that are still alight.

The year has been atypical in Portugal with long-lasting rains in the spring that helped massive amounts of undergrowth that fueled many fires and no rains in mid-August that usually signal an end to the wild fire high season.