According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), the cloud cover being experienced in Portugal is considered to be a “normal” feature of summer weather for the country

The cloud cover is expected to clear in the coming days, but "maximum temperatures are expected to be between 1 ºC to 3 ºC below normal until at least the 20 August", despite this "we are talking about temperatures that in Alentejo could reach 34 ºC or 35 ºC".

On the coast it will be feeling a little colder, in cities such as Porto, Viana do Castelo and even Lisbon, further south. "Porto and Viana will be around 22 ºC and 24 ºC in the next few days, but it is nothing extraordinary, it is not abnormal", said IPMA.

One of the causes for this decrease in temperature is the cloud cover, especially on the west coast, which "ends up helping to stunt maximum temperature values ?? during the day".

The Algarve should escape the clouds, but maximum temperatures are not expected to exceed between 26 ºC and 31 ºC, with the highest values ??being registered in the interior of the region and not near the beaches.

The origin of the cooler weather is due to the positioning and movement of an anticyclone. "Last week, the anticyclone's position was slightly different. It was in the Azores area, moving in a ridge towards the Bay of Biscay, which usually guarantees us almost no clouds. Now the anticyclone remains in the Azores area but it extends over the ridge to the North Atlantic and the Iberian Peninsula ends up receiving a current from the north, with colder air".