About 50 fires are active this Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 5,000 firefighters are mobilized, but it is not enough. The country has asked for help from its European neighbors given the scale of the situation.
The three largest fires, around Aveiro and Porto, have already burned more than 10,000 hectares.
The fires were rather limited during the summer in Portugal, with “only” 10,300 hectares burned, seven times less than the average of recent years. But the situation changed from September 10: while most of Western Europe was in a very cool climate,airair hot weather has invaded Portugal.
In the region of Aveiro and Porto in the north of the country, where many fires have broken out, temperatures are well above seasonal averages. In the south, temperatures will drop in the coming days, but not in the north where the heatheat will last for at least a week.
No region of Portugal escapes drought
These fires also broke out in an extremely dry context: Portugal did not have enough rain this summer.
In the north of the country, the drought is at a “moderate” to “high” level almost everywhere, and at an “exceptional” level in several areas.
No area of Portugal is immune to the drought, with the south of the country simply describing it as “light” to “moderate”.
