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The Portugal Brief

Weather

Health

Ministério da Saúde Switches the SNS Heatwave Plano de Contingência to Nível 1 on Wednesday 27 May — INEM Call Surge and the European Cúpula de Calor Stress-Test the March 2026 Mandatory Seasonal-Risk Decree

Minister Ana Paula Martins switched the SNS heatwave plano de contingência to Nível 1 on Wednesday after an INEM call surge, an IPMA aviso amarelo and a European heat dome pushed inland Portugal toward 40°C — the first stress-test of the four-tier framework set by the 31 March decree.

Weather

IPMA Forecasts 35°C in the Alentejo and Tejo Valley From Sunday Through Tuesday as a North African Air Mass Drives the First Sustained Heat Spell of 2026 — DGS Reissues the Mid-Day Sun Advisory and Hydration Note Into the Long Weekend

IPMA's Saturday-evening outlook calls 35°C across the Alentejo and Tejo Valley between Sunday and Tuesday as a North African air mass with Saharan dust drives mainland Portugal's first sustained heat spell of 2026 — DGS reissues the hydration and mid-day sun advisory ahead of the long weekend.

Weather

IPMA Calls a Hot, Showery 1.º de Maio Long Weekend With 28°C in Beja and 31°C in Santarém — Bragança, Castelo Branco and Guarda on Yellow Rain Alert as Above-Normal Temperatures Run Through 17 May

IPMA's forecast for the 1 May long weekend has Beja and Santarém at 28°C on Saturday and Santarém touching 31°C on Sunday, with showers and thunderstorms in interior and mountain regions. Bragança, Castelo Branco and Guarda are under a yellow rain advisory; above-normal temperatures run to 17 May.