Lisbon — Portugal went on high alert on Thursday as temperatures threatened to beat record levels in coming days. The government warned of a high risk of forest fires in the first test of the country’s readiness after the worst fires in history last year. The weather in Portugal has been relatively cool and wet so far in 2018 compared to many parts of Europe, but the government has gone to great lengths to ensure that the fires that killed 114 people in 2017 are not repeated. The highest temperature on record in Portugal is 47.3°C in 2003, in the southern Alentejo region. Several places in the Alentejo are forecast to reach 47°C on Saturday, while Lisbon could reach 43°C, which is highly unusual for Portugal’s capital by the sea. The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere said the heatwave that will hit in coming days will be similar to 2003, the second worst year on record for forest fires in Portugal after 2017. Wildfires in Greece last month killed 91 people in a sharp re...
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