Almost all of mainland Portugal was under a yellow weather warning on Wednesday and Thursday as forecasters warned of persistently high temperatures, with the alert due to stay in place until 6pm on Thursday. Every mainland district except Faro was covered by the warning, while temperatures were expected to climb to 38ºC in Santarém and Évora.

Faro was the exception, with highs of around 29ºC expected there, while overnight minimums were forecast to stay unusually high at 23ºC in Portalegre. The mix of heat and dry air was also pushing several Algarve municipalities into maximum wildfire danger, including Aljezur, Monchique, Portimão, Silves, Loulé, São Brás de Alportel and Tavira.

The heat warning came as the country entered another stretch of unusually hot weather, part of a broader wave sweeping across Europe. Authorities across Spain, France, the UK, Ireland, Austria and the Czech Republic were also on alert as the heat brought record temperatures for May and sharpened fears of forest fires.

Later today, the weather picture was expected to worsen in the north and interior, with Bragança, Viseu, Guarda and Vila Real under warning for thunderstorms, heavy showers, hail and strong wind gusts. That leaves mainland Portugal facing two different threats at once: prolonged heat in much of the country and more unstable weather in four districts, even as emergency services watch the Algarve for fire risk.

The pattern is especially striking because the yellow warning covers nearly the whole mainland while Faro, with its milder 29ºC forecast, sits outside the hottest zone. But the broader concern is not only the temperature peak; it is how quickly the heat has spread across southern Europe, from Portugal to central Europe, raising the odds that dry land and high winds could turn a hot spell into a fire season problem before summer has properly begun.