“Aline is the name given by the IPMA to a depression that will cross the Atlantic in the digging phase, approaching the central region of the west coast of Portugal on the morning of the 19th [Thursday], moving rapidly eastwards and transporting a mass of very hot, humid and unstable air”, explains the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) in a statement.

On Thursday, with the passage of depression Aline, the wind is expected to blow from the southwest, “gradually becoming strong” in the Center and South regions from the morning onwards, with gusts that could exceed 100 km/h, “especially on the coast south of Cabo Mondego and including the south coast of the Algarve, and in the mountains of these regions, rotating northwest from the end of the afternoon and gradually weakening”, reads the IPMA note.

The institute indicates that the precipitation “is expected to be heavy at times and occasionally accompanied by thunderstorms on the coast of the North and Center regions” from Wednesday afternoon onwards, “extending to the rest of the territory from the early hours of the 19th and increasing in frequency and intensity during the afternoon of that day”.

According to IPMA, the maritime agitation “will again increase and become strong from the early morning of the 19th, with waves from the western quadrant measuring four to five meters expected towards the west coast, passing northwest from the end of the day. afternoon and increasing to five to seven meters in significant height, and reaching a maximum height of up to 14 meters, persisting during the 20th”.

On the south coast of the Algarve, the waves will be from the southwest, increasing to four to five meters during Thursday afternoon.

“Due to this serious meteorological situation, orange warnings for wind, precipitation and sea unrest have been issued, which will be updated over the next few days, advising you to monitor weather forecasts and take precautions against vulnerable situations due to the weather”, adds IPMA.

The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) recorded between 00:00 and 16:00 yesterday 1,156 incidents on the continent related to bad weather, the majority in Greater Lisbon.

At 5pm yesterday, five districts on the north coast (Viana do Castelo, Braga, Vila Real, Porto and Aveiro) were under orange warning due to wind and/or heavy rain, according to IPMA.

The IPMA highlighted that the weather on the continent was conditioned by “successive frontal systems associated with depressions moving in the North Atlantic towards Europe”, which today were due to the influence of the Babet depression.