About a third of the meteorological stations in mainland Portugal exceeded or equalled their previous historical maximum temperatures for the month of June over the weekend, according to the IPMA.

On Sunday (29 June), a new absolute extreme for the month of June in mainland Portugal was reached in Mora, Évora, with the meteorological station recording 46.6° Celsius.

The previous extreme was 44.9º, recorded in Alcácer do Sal on June 17, 2017, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

The 31 stations where maximum temperatures were reached or exceeded were, in addition to Mora, Alvega with 46º (the last maximum was 45.4), followed by Alvalade, Coruche, Tomar, Pegões, Avis, Mértola, Santarém, Amareleja, Reguengos, Beja, Proença a Nova, Zebreira, Alcoutim, Estremoz, Chaves, Cabeceira de Bastos, Moimenta da Beira, Arouca, Cabril, Zambujeira, Vila Real, Viseu, Pampilhosa da Serra, Vinhais, Lamas de Mouro, Foía and Montalegre, which reached 34.4 degrees (the previous maximum had been 34º on June 20, 2003).

At the Portalegre station, the previous absolute maximum minimum air temperature in June was also exceeded on Sunday, with 31.5º.

According to data from the IPMA, on Sunday, around 82% of the weather stations recorded maximum air temperatures above 35°C and around 37% of the weather stations reached maximum air temperatures above 40°C.

This analysis is based on the IPMA network, which consists of 90 automatic weather stations on the continent.

Between Friday and Monday, several districts were on red alert, the highest due to high temperatures, caused by an air mass coming from North Africa, which is conducive to a very hot and dry weather situation.

The districts in question were Lisbon, Setúbal, Santarém, Évora, Beja, Castelo Branco and Portalegre