The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) issued yellow and orange meteorological warnings that come into force this Wednesday, March 6, in the Azores archipelago, extending to the mainland and Madeira on Thursday, 7, and will remain in place until at least Friday, 8. Only Santarém, Portalegre, Évora and the mountainous regions of Madeira do not have any weather warning in force until the weekend.
The worsening of the weather is associated with a depression — a region of low atmospheric pressure —, currently passing through the Azorean territory from the Northeast and which is expected to travel east in the coming hours. The movement of these depressions, typical of winter, is represented on platforms such as the Windy.
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) warned this Tuesday that the worsening of the weather in the coming hours should have consequences such as slippery road surfaces, flooding in cities, accidents on the coast, falling trees and thermal discomfort due to cause of the cold. As preventive measures, Civil Protection suggests, for example, unblocking drainage systems, fixing loose structures, adopting defensive driving and placing snow chains.
In mainland Portugal, yellow weather warnings for precipitation come into force this morning, at 3am and until 9am on Friday, in Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Lisbon and Setúbal. There are also nine districts with yellow warnings due to snowfall: Guarda and Castelo Branco (from 9am on Thursday to 12pm the following day), Vila Real, Bragança, Porto, Braga, Viana do Castelo and Viseu (from 3pm on Thursday – Monday to 12pm on Friday), Coimbra (9pm on Thursday to 3am on Friday)
In addition, the entire coast of mainland Portugal will also be under meteorological warning due to sea disturbances from 9am on Thursday and will remain so until 6pm in the districts from Lisbon to Faro; and until 9pm in Viana do Castelo