Portugal on alert for rare "sting jet" winds above 160 km/h

Portugal is on alert because of the passage of the depressions Bruna and Charles. For this Wednesday, there is also the possibility of a phenomenon called sting jet, a rare meteorological event that can produce gusts with greater destructive force, as happened with Kristin at the beginning of the year, which devastated several regions in the district of Leiria.The Greater Lisbon area deserves particular attention because of the possibility that this phenomenon may occur, especially between midday and late afternoon on Wednesday.On Tuesday, during a Civil Protection preventative press conference, IPMA acknowledged the possibility that a sting jet could form. "There are some signs that it may occur, but it is very difficult to predict. That is what happened in storm Kristin and it is on the table," said Jorge Ponte of IPMA.According to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), a sting jet is an air current that descends rapidly inside an extratropical depression and can reach the surface with great intensity. This phenomenon, which occurs in a relatively small and localised area, can generate very strong wind gusts, which may exceed 160 kilometres per hour, and cause significant damage.Climate change specialist Duarte Costa, who used social media to explain the phenomenon and warn of the associated risks, describes it as "an extremely violent jet of wind that…