The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) has placed more than 30 municipalities of Faro, Beja, Santarém, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Guarda, Viseu and Bragança at very high risk of fire.

More than 70 municipalities in the districts of Faro, Évora, Beja, Lisbon, Leiria, Viseu, Guarda, Castelo Branco, Portalegre, Santarém, Viseu, Guarda, Vila Real and Bragança are also in high danger of fire today.

According to IPMA, today will be the hottest day of the week, with the heat associated with "a mass of warm air, originating in North Africa, and transported in the circulation of an anticyclone located near the Iberian Peninsula."

Since the beginning of the year there have been 2,226 forest fires and 7,466 hectares have burned in rural areas, according to data from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).

The fire hazard, determined by IPMA, has five levels, ranging from reduced to maximum. The calculations are obtained from the air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and amount of precipitation in the last 24 hours.

The IPMA predicts for today on the continent continuation of warm weather, with generally cloudy skies, sometimes very cloudy by high clouds, and rising temperatures, except in the Algarve.

The minimum temperatures will vary between 11 degrees Celsius (in Bragança) and 20 degrees (in Beja) and the maximum between 23 (in Aveiro, Porto and Viana do Castelo) and 35 (in Évora, Beja and Santarém).