The Portuguese prime minister has cancelled the official visit he had scheduled for 11 and 12 July to Mozambique. António Costa called the head of the Mozambican state, Filipe Nyusi, to explain the reasons for the cancellation, which is related to the fires that are now breaking out in Portugal (there are 125 active).

In the press release sent by the Prime Minister's press office, one reads that the weather forecasts indicate a "very serious worsening of the rural fire risk in the coming days", which forces António Costa not to leave the country, "in order to be permanently available".

Late this afternoon, and after an emergency meeting, the Government decreed the raising of the alert level to contingency situation between July 11 and 15, precisely because of the forecast of "worsening weather conditions" in the coming days.

The Minister of Internal Administration justified it with the need to give Civil Protection "all the means available in the country" and, while refusing to be alarmist, warned that days of "complexity" lie ahead, appealing finally to the responsibility of individual behavior.