Portugal declares state of alert as extreme heat grips country

Lisbon, July 2 (IANS) The Portuguese government said on Thursday that a nationwide state of alert will take effect from Friday as extreme heat are expected to last till next Monday. Exceptional emergency measures will also be taken to reduce wildfire risks.

Portugal’s Interior Minister Luis Neves made the announcement following a meeting of the Integrated Prevention and Operations Command (CIPO) at the Leiria Fire Brigade, warning of a “very significant deterioration in weather conditions.”

“For major emergencies, the government will issue a state of alert, which involves exceptional measures for extraordinary and difficult circumstances and also triggers emergency legislation,” Neves said, calling on all citizens to cooperate, Xinhua news agency reported.

Under the emergency measures, work in forest areas involving any type of machinery will be prohibited, except for operations directly related to combating rural wildfires. Brush-cutting equipment with metal blades or discs will be banned from use in other rural areas. Setting off fireworks is also prohibited.

According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), 12 of the 18 districts on Portugal’s mainland will be under red alert — the highest level on a three-tier scale — from Thursday till at least Saturday due to the forecast of “extremely high temperature”.

The remaining six districts are also under elevated warning levels, meaning that virtually the entire mainland area faces maximum or very high wildfire risk.

Meanwhile, reports have painted a stark picture of accelerating climate extremes, with Europe warming faster than any other continent. The findings underscore that climate change has become an urgent reality reshaping ecosystems, economies and human health across Europe, calling for ambitious actions.

“Since 1980, Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest warming continent on Earth,” Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said while presenting the European State of the Climate Report 2025 released on Wednesday (local time).

Europe suffered record or near-record climate extremes in 2025, with heatwaves, wildfires, marine heat and ice loss intensifying across the continent, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service and the WMO said in the report.

–IANS

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