Lisbon, Aug. 4, 2025 (Lusa) - The five northernmost regions of mainland Portugal are on Monday under a red alert, the highest level, due to persistently extremely high maximum temperatures, according to the country's national meteorological institute (IPMA).

The warning for Bragança, Porto, Vila Real, Viana do Castelo and Braga will remain in place until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, when it will be replaced by an orange warning (in the case of Vila Real and Bragança) and yellow in all other cases.

In addition to the red warning, all other regions are already under an orange warning until 6pm on Tuesday, with the exception of Beja, which will be under a yellow warning.

Faro is once again the only region on the mainland without any warning.

After 6pm on Tuesday, there are further warnings, ranging from orange to yellow, for all regions until Thursday, with the exception of Beja.

Mainland Portugal has been on alert since Sunday and will remain so until Thursday due to the high risk of fire, the interior minister announced on Saturday.

The red warning is the highest on the scale used by the national meteorological institute and represents a situation of extreme risk, while orange, the second most serious, is issued in a "situation of moderate to high risk" and yellow is issued whenever there is a risk to certain activities dependent on the weather.

Today is expected to be hot with little cloud or clear skies, with more cloud in the western Algarve, generally light winds, temporarily moderate to strong in the Algarve. A drop in maximum temperatures is expected in the south.

Évora will be the hottest region, with 40ºC, and Faro the least hot, with 28º.

Meanwhile, more than 140 districts in the interior north and centre of the country and the Algarve region are today at maximum risk of wildfires, according to IPMA.

According to the national meteorological institute, all districts in Bragança, Guarda and Viseu and most districts in Vila Real and Castelo Branco are at maximum risk of fire.

Dozens of locations in the regions of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Coimbra, Aveiro, Santarém, Leiria, Portalegre and Faro are also at maximum risk of fire.

More than 40 districts in Viana do Castelo, Braga, Vila Real, Porto, Aveiro, Leiria, Santarém, Lisbon, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Beja and Faro are at very high risk.

The national meteorological institute has placed almost the entire Alentejo region and more than 20 districts in the regions of Leiria, Santarém, Lisbon and Faro at high risk.

Only around 40 municipalities, mostly on the coast, in the regions of Porto, Aveiro, Leiria, Lisbon, Setúbal and Faro are at moderate risk of fire.

The fire risk determined by the national meteorological institute has five levels, ranging from low to maximum, the latter being issued when weather conditions, such as extreme heat and low humidity, significantly increase the danger of ignition and spread of fires.

SB/AYLS // AYLS

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