According to the Climatological Bulletin of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), in October there was a very significant decrease in the area under meteorological drought in mainland Portugal.

In Baixo Alentejo and Algarve there was a decrease in the intensity of the meteorological drought, with these regions now being in the weak drought class at the end of October.

At the end of October, 44.9% of the territory was in the normal class, 28.5% in the light rain class, 18.7% in light drought, 6% in moderate rain and 1.9% in severe rain.

The institute classifies the meteorological drought index into nine classes, which ranges from “extreme rain” to “extreme drought”.

According to IPMA, there are four types of drought: meteorological, agricultural, hydrological and socioeconomic.

Data from the IPMA Climatological Bulletin also indicate that last month was classified as hot in relation to air temperature and rainy in relation to precipitation.

During the month of October, air temperature values ​​were generally above the monthly average value in the period from the 1st to the 24th, highlighting October 6th with minimum air temperature values ​​above 20 degrees Celsius in 15% of the meteorological stations in the IPMA network.

Maximum temperature values ​​exceeding 30 degrees Celsius were also recorded.

The bulletin data also points to the occurrence of a cold period at the end of October with values ​​well below normal.

With regard to precipitation, the IPMA indicates that a total of 148.7 millimeters was recorded, being the 8th highest value since 2000 (highest in 2023: 219.3 millimeters).

Regarding the percentage of water in the soil, IPMA states that there was a significant increase in values ​​throughout the territory, especially in the north and central coastal region.

The lowest values ​​are found in the Tagus Valley and Setúbal region and in some places in the Beja district with values ​​below 40%.