RIGA, Jan 5 (LETA) - With air temperatures forecast to plummet this week, homeless shelters in Riga are prepared to accommodate more people, Riga City Hall informed LETA.

So far in January, shelters in the capital city received an average of 562 homeless people per day.

The total number of places in Riga's shelters is 655. The current occupancy rate is 86 percent of the available capacity.

The Riga Welfare Department monitors the dynamics of client numbers and the situation on a daily basis.

Demand for shelter services usually increases during the cold season, but the municipality ensures that there are enough places for everyone in need.

Shelters closer to the city center accommodate more people, while those outside the city center have more places available.

When the outside air temperature at 8 a.m. is below minus 10 degrees Celsius or below zero degrees and the wind speed exceeds 10 meters per second, the shelters are open round the clock. This rule is effective from October to April.

Lunch and other services are also provided in bad weather.

According to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Center's forecast, it will get colder in Latvia and Riga in the coming days.

On Thursday, the weather in Riga will be clear and the minimum air temperature will be around minus 10 degrees.