“All forecasts carry uncertainty, but according to scientific knowledge there will be a reduction in water resources, with many implications for agriculture and even for people’s health,” Filipe Duarte Santos told a conference on the management and planning of water resources held in Coimbra, in central Portugal.

Duarte Santos, citing the 'Impressions' project led by researchers at the University of Oxford with European Union funding, said that it would be difficult to maintain the Tagus river’s water quality in the circumstances and called for measures to be introduced such as the re-use of urban waste water.

Jorge Olcina, a researcher from Spain's University of Alicante, sketched out a grim future scenario of floods caused by climate change, noting that 82% of the peninsula's municipalities did not have risk management plans.

The Lisbon councillor with responsibility for environmental issues, José Sá Fernandes, said that the Portuguese capital planned to increase its green areas to 300 hectares and invest €100 million in major works on drainage systems.