An orange alert for extremely high temperatures has been issued on Friday by the meteorological service, while the forestry department has also issued a red alert for fire risk.

The warning is in place until 6pm and temperatures are expected to hit 43C in inland, 37C on the southeast and east coasts, 35C on the remaining coasts and 32C in the higher mountains, with the minimum temperatures not expected to fall below 25C.

High humidity conditions will also prevail.

Winds will initially be mainly north-westerly to north-easterly, light to moderate, up to 4 Beaufort, gradually turning south-westerly to north-westerly of the same intensity. The sea will be somewhat rough.

Overnight the weather will be clear. Winds will be mainly north to north-westerly, up to 4 Beaufort. The sea will be calm to slightly rough. Temperatures will drop to 27C in the interior, on the south-east and east coasts, 25C on the remaining of the coasts and 23C degrees in the higher mountains.

High temperatures above the seasonal average will continue over the weekend and into next week, though a slight drop is expected by Monday.