With no relief so far in October, Portugal’s weather service reports that for September this year, 80% of the mainland was suffering ‘severe drought’ at the end of a month that it categorises as ‘extremely hot.’
According to the bulletin, September was an increase in the area affected by severe and extreme drought conditions.
As at September 30th, 81% of the territory was in severe drought, 7.4% in extreme drought, 10.7% in moderate drought and a mere 0.8% in weak drought.
At the end of August, only 58.9% of the territory was in severe drought and 0.7% in extreme drought, as if this was not bad enough, but the end of September figures are not unexpected as rainfall has been as close to non-existent as makes no odds.
In its Climate Bulletin, the IPMA reports the "the conjugation of much lower than normal precipitation and temperatures far above normal, in particular maximums, resulted in the occurrence of high evaporation and significant soil moisture deficits."
This means that many reservoirs are close to dry, the average is under 20%, and the ground is parched, much of it cracked due to lack of water.
As for rainfall for the year leading up to September 30th, “In this period, the total accumulated rainfall was 621.8 millimetres (70% of normal). This is the 9th lowest value since records began in 1931," noting also that the average maximum temperature was the highest since 1931.
Earlier this week, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Carlos Martins, admitted at the end of a Water Management Commission meeting that there is an imminent risk of water running out in certain areas in the district of Viseu, if there is no rain in the next few days.
The drought has already prompted the Government to grant exceptional support to farmers in the Alentejo districts of Évora, Beja and Portalegre and specifically in the municipalities of Alcácer do Sal, Grândola and Santiago do Cacém, normally supplied by the Sado river.
At the next meeting of the Water Management Commission in two weeks time, its members will “see what measures can be taken to try to minimise the problems."