Civil Protection Predicts ‘New Worsening’ Of Weather In Portugal From Sunday, October 22

AS residents of Portugal clear up following Storm Aline, the country faces a further bout of bad weather from Sunday according to the forecasters.

Heavy rain and strong winds brought flooding to many parts of the country on Thursday, October 19, along with the chaos caused on the roads by fallen trees.

Up until 7 pm on Thursday, Civil Protection had dealt with 3,470 incidents. The majority were due to flooding on public roads, some flooded homes, road cuts, falling trees and structures damaged due to the strong winds.

Sunday and Monday could see more bad weather

‘At this moment, the meteorological situation has eased, but the worsening does not mean a substantial improvement, it means that occasional heavy showers and sometimes wind with some intensity may still occur. There may be a further worsening for Sunday and Monday’, said the national commander of ANEPC, as reported by sicnoticias.pt.

Regarding the meteorological phenomenon that could affect Portugal from Sunday onwards, André Fernandes said that the current operation will remain in place and is ‘in a recovery phase’.

After an assessment that is due to be carried out today: ‘It will be adjusted to the potential of damage that the phenomenon presents’, he explained.

ANEPC and the IPMA constantly exchange information

Fernandes was asked whether he understood that there was a gap between the alert level launched by IPMA in relation to meteorological conditions and the effects and consequences actually recorded.

In response, the national commander of ANEPC pointed out that on Thursday, in Lisbon alone, 748 occurrences were recorded, which he said demonstrated ‘that there was an event of some seriousness’.

He explained that there was coordination and exchange of information with IPMA at all times and that it was due to this action that today’s preventive actions were possible. ‘Coordination exists and is perfectly organised between the different entities’, he stressed.

Multimédia Meteo.DivSI
Atenção aos Avisos Meteorológicos para os próximos dias no Continente:
Agitação Marítima – Amarelo [ 19 Out 11:40 – 19 Out 21:00 ]https://t.co/SAlwXHZXns pic.twitter.com/p0z40XBDsR

— IPMA (@ipma_pt) October 19, 2023

All districts of mainland Portugal have been placed under an orange warning since 6 am this morning due to strong rain, wind, and rough seas.

Pay attention to IPMA forecasts and Civil Protection alerts

Climatologist Carlos Câmara explained to SIC that: ‘this type of weather will continue for the next eight to 10 days’, with a ‘set of depressions, one after the other, but at intervals of a few days’. He warned that it was necessary for the general public to pay attention to IPMA forecasts and Civil Protection alerts.

‘These types of episodes may become more frequent, because the mechanisms that favour them are, in turn, provided by climate change’, added the climatologist.