According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), there was an increase in the area of mainland Portugal in the weak drought class, from 12.8% in October to 19.4% in November in the southern region, covering the entire district of Faro, Beja and a large part of the district of Setúbal.

There was also an increase in the severe rain class from 1.5% to 16.2% in the north and much of the central region.

At the end of last month, 31.3% of the territory was experiencing moderate rain, 25.9% in the normal class, 19.4% in mild drought, 16.2% in severe rain and 7.2% in light rain.

The institute classifies the meteorological drought index into nine classes, which vary between "extreme rain" and "extreme drought".

According to IPMA, there are four types of drought: meteorological, agricultural, hydrological and socioeconomic.

Data from the bulletin indicate that the month of November was classified as very hot in terms of air temperature and normal in terms of precipitation (122.2 millimetres).

Last month was considered the 9th hottest in the last 93 years (hottest in 1981) and the 2nd hottest since 2000.