It is not the job of the Portuguese Institute of Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA) to bring cheer by disguising its firm predictions that this Christmas is set to be a wash out.
Christmas Eve will be a day of torrential rain across the country which in this instance includes the Algarve and the Alentejo regions which often avoid these generalised warnings.
There will be some sun, but only until this Sunday with temperatures between 6°C and 16°C. On Monday the weather will begin its saddening decline into a most un-Christmas scene of cloud-filled skies with an increasing chance of rain in the districts of Faro, Beja, Évora and Setúbal.
Heavy rain should arrive in full force on Tuesday the 24th of December accompanied by high winds.
There is however a slight chance that on Christmas Day itself the rain will become patchy with chances of watery sunlight in between the showers.
