Eleven districts of mainland Portugal are this Sunday, December 21, under orange warning, the second highest, due to snowfall and maritime unrest, indicated the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).
The districts of Braga, Castelo Branco, Guarda, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu were on orange alert for snowfall until 9 am, with “conditioned or closed roads, damage to structures or trees and impaired local supplies”, according to a statement from IPMA.
In the note, IPMA also extends the orange alert for maritime unrest in seven districts, which is now in effect until 12pm today.
Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Leiria, Lisbon, Porto and Viana do Castelo are all forecasting “northwest waves with five to six meters and a maximum height of 10 meters”.
The orange warning is issued by IPMA whenever there is a “moderate to high risk meteorological situation”, and the yellow warning when there is a risk situation for certain activities dependent on the meteorological situation.
Winter begins this Sunday, with forecasts of rain, snowfall and maximum temperatures varying between 4 and 14 degrees Celsius, according to IPMA.
Mainland Portugal will be affected this weekend by a maritime polar air mass that will cause snowfall at lower elevations and temperatures close to or below 0 degrees in the North and Center interior.