Mainland Portugal and the Madeira archipelago will be affected from this Tuesday, December 9th, by rain, wind and sea disturbances due to the effects of the Bram depression, with the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) warnings have already been issued.
In a statement, the IPMA said that depression Bram (name given by the Irish Meteorological Service) formed in the western Atlantic and is advancing east towards the Azores archipelago and then heading towards Ireland.
According to IPMA, “this depression is associated with a cold frontal surface of moderate to strong activity, which will gradually cross the continent’s territory from the afternoon of the 9th. [hoje]from northwest to southeast, passing through the southern region only during the early hours/morning of the 10th [quarta-feira]”.
Because of this situation, persistent and sometimes heavy rain will occur across most of the continent’s territory, starting early this morning in Minho and Douro Litoral, gradually extending to the remaining regions.
Additionally, this episode will be accompanied by strong winds from the southern quadrant on the west coast and in the highlands until mid-afternoon today, with gusts between 70 and 90 kilometers per hour (km/h), especially in the North and Center regions.
“It should also be noted that, as in recent days and due to the presence of depressions in the North Atlantic moving east/northeast, an episode of strong maritime unrest continues on the west coast until the morning of the 10th. [quarta-feira]forecasting waves from the west/northwest with a significant height of 4 to 5.5 meters, temporarily from the west/southwest to the north of the mouth of the Douro River.
According to the IPMA, “this depression is associated with, in addition to a cold frontal surface of moderate to strong activity, a mass of humid tropical air, with a high water vapor content, which will begin to affect the Madeira archipelago from the end of the morning today with persistent and sometimes heavy rain and accompanied by thunderstorms”.
Moderate to strong winds from the southwest are also forecast, with gusts of up to 70 km/h, and up to 85 km/h in the highlands, gradually turning northwards from the afternoon onwards and weakening, and strong sea agitation until the end of today, with waves from the west/northwest with a significant height of 4 to 4.5 meters being expected.
Due to the state of the sea, IPMA issued orange warnings for the continent for the districts of Porto, Viana do Castelo and Braga until 3:00 pm today, then turning yellow until 6:00 am on Wednesday.
Also because of the waves, the IPMA issued a yellow warning for the districts of Faro, Setúbal, Lisbon, Leiria, Beja, Coimbra and Aveiro until 06:00 on Wednesday.
The districts of Viseu, Évora, Porto, Faro, Vila Real, Setúbal, Santarém, Viana do Castelo, Lisbon, Leiria, Beja, Castelo Branco, Aveiro, Coimbra, Portalegre and Braga are also under yellow warning until the end of today due to the rain.
Porto, Viana do Castelo, Lisbon, Leiria, Aveiro, Coimbra and Braga are also under yellow warning due to the forecast of strong winds with gusts of up to 80 km/hour until 3pm today.
As for the Madeira archipelago, the IPMA issued an orange warning for the south coast and mountainous regions of the island of Madeira due to heavy rain until 12:00 today, then turning yellow until 15:00 today, and for the north coast and Porto Santo.
The north coast of the island of Madeira is still under yellow warning due to sea unrest until 00:00 on Wednesday.
Regarding the Azores archipelago, IPMA placed the western group (Flores and Corvo) under yellow warning due to maritime unrest until 12:00 today.
The orange warning is issued by IPMA whenever there is a “moderate to high risk meteorological situation” and the yellow one, when there is a “risk situation for certain activities dependent” on the weather.