Overview

• The roll cloud swept across northern and central Portugal beaches on June 29–30 during a record-breaking heatwave, surprising beachgoers with gusty winds and eerie, wave-like formations.
• A viral video shared by X user ‘Volcaholic’ captured the cloud’s advance and has garnered over 20,000 views, prompting widespread fascination.
• Portugal’s weather service IPMA verified the phenomenon via satellite imagery, tracking its path between Peniche and Póvoa do Varzim around 5–6 pm local time.
• BBC meteorologist Sarah Keith-Lucas explained that cool, moist ocean air rolled beneath warm, dry land air and wind shear shaped the distinctive, cigar-like formation.
• Mainland temperatures exceeded 40 °C at the time, leading the National Civil Protection Authority to maintain ‘Very High’ to ‘Maximum’ wildfire danger warnings.