Storm Therese Spawns Tornado in Porto Santo and Disrupts Flights Across Portugal's Islands

A violent atmospheric phenomenon struck Porto Santo on Friday evening, tearing through the small Madeiran island with tornado-like force and leaving a trail of damaged buildings, uprooted trees, and shaken residents. The event came as Depression Therese, named by Portugal's Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), swept across the country's Atlantic archipelagos and pushed towards the mainland.

What Happened in Porto Santo

At around 7 pm on Friday, March 21, Porto Santo was hit by an intense burst of heavy rain and ferocious winds that residents described as a tornado. The phenomenon struck several parts of the island simultaneously, causing damage across both public infrastructure and private property.

At the Navigator Columbus Hotel, where an event was underway, the wind caught attendees off guard, overturning chairs and shattering large windows. Damage was also reported to windows in several hotel rooms. The island's tennis complex sustained significant damage, particularly to its padel courts. Several trees were uprooted or dragged across roads, and school roofs near the Hotel Porto Santo and Spa were damaged.

The regional delegate of IPMA told Diario de Noticias that weather radars had not registered unusual wind conditions at the monitoring station. However, Ricardo Tavares acknowledged that the rainfall was extreme: 19 millimetres fell in just 10 minutes, nearly triggering an orange alert. He noted that tornado-like events can be highly localised, occurring outside the coverage of fixed stations.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa issued a statement expressing concern and sympathy for those affected, saying he was closely monitoring the situation in Madeira.

Flight Cancellations and Tourism Disruption

The broader impact of Storm Therese extended well beyond Porto Santo. Across the Azores, IPMA issued orange alerts for the central and eastern island groups as wind gusts exceeded 110 kilometres per hour and waves reached up to eight metres. SATA Air Acores and Azores Airlines suspended inter-island flights, stranding thousands of travellers headed for popular destinations including volcanic crater lakes and whale-watching excursions.

Madeira Airport restricted operations from midday, cancelling more than 30 inbound and outbound flights. Diversions sent aircraft to Porto Santo, Lisbon, and even Gran Canaria, leaving terminals overcrowded. Funchal's harbour masters halted ferry services, compounding access problems for a region that depends heavily on maritime connections.

Hotels in Sao Miguel, Terceira, and Funchal reported booking adjustments, with guests extending stays or scrambling to arrange alternative transport. The disruption underscored the vulnerability of island tourism to Atlantic weather systems, particularly during the shoulder season when Easter bookings begin to ramp up.

Mainland Braces for More Rain

Storm Therese is not finished with Portugal. IPMA forecasts place the depression southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, moving slowly southward and influencing weather conditions across the mainland through Sunday, March 22. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected, with the strongest impacts in central and southern regions, particularly coastal districts south of Cape Mondego and inland areas south of the Serra da Estrela.

Wind gusts could reach 75 kilometres per hour along the coast and 95 kilometres per hour in highland areas. On the western coast south of Cape Carvoeiro, waves from the west may reach 4 to 4.5 metres. On the southern Algarve coast, southeast waves of 2 to 2.5 metres are forecast through late morning on Friday.

Yellow warnings remain in effect for heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts, and rough sea conditions across multiple districts.

What You Should Know

For residents and visitors, civil protection authorities advise monitoring IPMA updates regularly, avoiding coastal areas and cliffs during peak wave conditions, and securing outdoor furniture and loose objects. Anyone with flights to or from the Azores or Madeira in the coming days should check directly with their airline for the latest status, as cancellations and diversions may continue.

Drivers should exercise caution on roads in central and southern Portugal, where localised flooding and fallen debris are possible. Hikers should avoid levada trails in Madeira and exposed mountain paths on the mainland until warnings are lifted. (Background: see our piece on the Serra da Estrela, Madeira and Açores hiking guide.)

Storm Therese is the latest in a series of Atlantic depressions to affect Portugal this winter, raising questions about whether the country's island tourism infrastructure and emergency response systems are adequately resourced for increasingly volatile weather patterns.