Charles Spreads Red Rain Warnings to Beja and Faro as Nine Mainland Districts Brace for Gusts of Up to 140 km/h
All 18 mainland districts are on orange or red today. Red rain now covers Beja and Faro as well as Lisbon and Setúbal from 09:00, red wind runs to 21:00 in eight districts, and IPMA says Charles may track further south. What is shut and what to do.
Depression Charles reaches mainland Portugal today with nine districts under red warnings, the highest level on the scale of the national weather institute, IPMA. According to IPMA's warning data at 07:00, every one of the 18 mainland districts is now on orange or red, and the red set has grown overnight: Beja and Faro have joined Lisbon and Setúbal under red for rain from 09:00 to 18:00.
The whole mainland has been under a government state of alert (situação de alerta) since midnight, with schools and non-essential public services shut, as we reported on Tuesday evening.
The warnings in force today
- Red for wind, gusts up to 120 km/h and up to 140 km/h in the most exposed places: Beja, Faro and Setúbal from 09:00 to 21:00; Lisbon, Leiria, Santarém, Évora and Portalegre from 12:00 to 21:00.
- Red for rain, heavy and persistent: Lisbon, Setúbal, Beja and Faro from 09:00 to 18:00; Leiria, Santarém, Portalegre and Castelo Branco from 12:00 to 18:00.
- Orange for sea conditions in Lisbon, Setúbal, Beja and Faro from 12:00 to 21:00: southwest waves of 5 to 7 metres, with a maximum height of up to 13 metres.
- Orange for rain in Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Vila Real, Bragança, Aveiro, Viseu, Guarda and Coimbra until 21:00, and in Évora until 18:00. Coimbra, Guarda and Castelo Branco are also orange for wind (gusts to 120 km/h) from 12:00 to 21:00.
A track further south
Charles may have shifted course overnight. IPMA has said that if very strong winds come they will hit "further south" rather than Lisbon, Observador reported, and RTP's live coverage says the storm should first reach the Algarve, Alentejo and Lisbon, with the peak expected between 11:00 and 15:00. IPMA stresses the path is still hard to predict. Civil Protection counted 66 occurrences on the mainland by 07:00, according to Observador, and E-REDES reported about 2,000 customers without power, mostly in the south, RTP said.
In Madeira the storm passed south of the island and did less damage than feared. Gusts topped 130 km/h in the highlands and more than 240 mm of rain fell in six hours, IPMA meteorologist Paula Leitão told Lusa. The regional Civil Protection service logged 137 occurrences between 20:00 on Tuesday and 06:30, mostly flooding, with no casualties.
What is shut today
Besides schools and non-essential public services, outdoor events are suspended and non-urgent hospital and health centre appointments and surgery are off, ECO and RTP report. Shops and private firms are not ordered to close, though Pingo Doce has shut its stores. Rede Expressos coaches are suspended from 10:00 to 23:59; CP is refunding or swapping long-distance tickets. Lisbon's road tunnels, parks and gardens are closed, and Web Summit has cancelled its Wednesday programme.
What residents should do
- Stay indoors during the red window if you can, and avoid all unnecessary trips.
- Keep away from the coast, beaches, cliffs, rivers and streams, and from parks and tree-lined areas.
- Never walk or drive through flooded roads; do not park in underground car parks or under trees.
- Bring in or tie down anything loose on balconies and terraces.
- Charge your phone and a power bank, and keep a torch to hand.
Follow ANEPC, the civil protection authority, and IPMA for updates. For health advice, contact SNS 24. In an emergency, call 112.
