Four districts under red warning on New Year’s Day
There is one district under orange warning and 13 under yellow warning due to heavy rain.
Aveiro, Braga, Porto and Viana do Castelo start the year under red warning due to persistent and sometimes heavy precipitation, according to information available on the website of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere.
The four districts intertwine at orange warning at midnight on Sunday, moving to red warning at 3:00 am. At 12:00 they descend to yellow warning.
The district of Vila Real will be on orange warning from midnight to 12:00. The remaining 13 districts are under yellow warning.
In a press conference, the national commander of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority announced that the districts of Porto, Viana do Castelo, Braga and Aveiro go on red alert at 00:00 on Sunday due to the worsening of bad weather.
“Between today and tomorrow there will be a worsening of the situation”, announced the national commander of the ANPC, André Fernandes, explaining that at 2 pm today there will be an orange alert in five districts: Porto, Viana do Castelo, Braga, Aveiro and Viana do Castelo.
The forecast of increased rainfall causes four of these five districts to go on red alert [o mais grave da escala] at 00:00: Porto, Viana do Castelo, Braga and Aveiro.
Northern municipalities cancel New Year’s festivities
The municipalities of Vila do Conde, Póvoa de Varzim, Santo Tirso and Amarante, in the Porto district, and Chaves, Vila Real, announced this Friday the cancellation of the end-of-year festivities, due to worsening weather conditions.
In Vila do Conde, the New Year’s Eve program next to Forte de São João was cancelled, explained this municipality through the social network Facebook.
Also in Póvoa de Varzim, adverse weather conditions led to the cancellation of the year-end party and the fireworks display, after a meeting between local authorities, this chamber announced in a statement.
The municipality of Santo Tirso announced in a statement that it had canceled the entertainment program for the New Year’s Eve, scheduled for April 25th square, namely the performance of the Pentagon Orchestra, the distribution of champagne and the fireworks display.
The New Year’s Eve fireworks display was also canceled in Amarante, the municipality announced on Facebook.
The Chamber of Chaves, on the other hand, canceled the New Year’s Eve festivities planned outdoors, with the exception of the launch of fireworks, which were recorded on the banks of the Tâmega river at midnight, disclosed this municipality.
During Friday Porto, Gaia and Matosinhos announced the cancellation of New Year celebrations due to worsening weather conditions.
The Viseu City Council and Viseu Marca also announced on Friday that the end-of-year celebrations were cancelled, but keep the fireworks and catering running.
Barcelos and Ponte de Lima also announced this Saturday that they canceled the New Year’s Eve festivities due to bad weather. In Barcelos, where the orange warning will be in force, the City Council decided to “cancel the aforementioned celebrations, taking into account that the most important thing is to safeguard people and goods”. Also “due to the orange alert for the Viana do Castelo district, the Municipality of Ponte de Lima decided to cancel the “New Year’s Eve 2022″ event scheduled for Freixo”.