Today the districts of Vila Real, Bragança, Viseu and Guarda are under a yellow weather warning due to the forecast of heavy hail showers accompanied by thunderstorms and strong gusts of wind.

According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), the yellow warning for those four mainland districts will be in effect between 2:00pm and 9:00pm today.

Meteorologist Bruno Café told Lusa that showers are forecast in the northern and central interior and are predicted to be heavy with hail storms and accompanied by thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon.

According to Bruno Café, showers and thunderstorms are also forecast for Wednesday, but the probability of them occurring will be lower compared to today.

Temperatures up to 40 degrees

Temperatures are also to rise from Wednesday in mainland Portugal, reaching 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday in some regions, leading to a significant increase in the danger of rural fires.

“For today and tomorrow [Wednesday] the maximum temperatures will be between 25 and 35 degrees, higher in the interior, and the minimum between 15 and 20 degrees, but from Thursday we have a different situation, with an increase in temperature to values ​​between 35 and 40, which may be higher in some places, mainly in the Tagus Valley, inland Alentejo, Algarve and eastern Algarve”, said Bruno Café.

According to Bruno Café, as of Wednesday, a “flow from the east quadrant in the circulation of an anticyclone located northeast of the Azores, extending in a crest to Central Europe, will transport a mass of hot and dry air over the mainland territory”.

“In addition to the maximums, we will also have a rise in the minimums associated with tropical nights, that is, above 20 degrees in some places such as the Algarve, highlands and Tagus Valley”, he said.

According to the IPMA meteorologist, this hot weather, with high temperatures, is expected to continue at least until the middle of the month.

“Everything indicates that this trend will continue until the middle of the month”, he said.