Speaking to Lusa agency, the meteorologist from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) said that the “worst is over on the island of Madeira”, which was s under red warning due to heavy rain that caused floods and landslides, and now storm Oscar is approaching the mainland.

“The depression is moving slowly and approaching the continent. Tomorrow [Thursday] it will be heading closer to the mainland and then moving north. However, its influence due to its proximity, will lead to weather instability with precipitation and the possibility of thunderstorms”, she said.

According to Cristina Simões, the depression will influence the weather on the continent from late afternoon today in the districts of Vila Real and Bragança and then on Thursday in the North and Centre regions with heavy rain and thunderstorms.

“We continue to be influenced by depression Oscar, which will bring precipitation today with periods of rain changing to showers in the afternoon which could be temporarily strong in the interior north, which is why we issued a yellow warning for the end of the afternoon today for Vila Real and Bragança”, she said.

The IPMA meteorologist said that on Thursday showers are expected, sometimes heavy, accompanied by thunderstorms in the afternoon, with a yellow warning being issued for the districts of Viseu, Porto, Guarda, Viana do Castelo, Leiria, Castelo Branco, Aveiro, Coimbra and Braga between 12:00 and 21:00 on Thursday.

“The situation will not be as severe as in Madeira, but we continue with some instability and hence the continuation of the issuance of a warning for these regions for sometimes heavy precipitation and thunderstorms for today”, she stressed.

Cristina Simões added that the weather will be characterised by some instability until the weekend.

With regard to temperatures, the meteorologist said that maximum temperatures of around 25/26 degrees Celsius in the south and interior region and 23/24 in Lisbon and Porto will remain until the weekend.

“The minimum temperatures will remain around 14/15 degrees in the interior and 18 in the coastal regions”, she said.